Trouvant Ma Chanson

Nails Are Having a Moment

2011-09-05T13:34:00.001-07:00

In the beauty world, nails have totally been stealing the scene lately.

OPI Shatter polish.

Katy Perry and her ever-evolving nail designs (seen above).

Sally Hansen patterned nail polish strips.

The Bad Girls Club and their special finger of different polish...

I don't think I've noticed people's nails this much since high school when everyone got tips, airbrush designs and exaggerated French manicures for school dances. I think back to those days and cringe at the tackiness. The difference today? Short nails are in and the designs don't take themselves too seriously - it's all about having fun with your nails.

The recent development (for me) is that I've decided to join the fun. See, I've been a nail biter since I was 3 years old. There are definitely worse things to be addicted to, but still...my nails are gross. It's a disgusting habit and I've never painted my nails bright colors for fear of drawing more attention to the issue. I've tried unsuccessfully to quit biting my nails about 15 times in my life, and it's never worked. Who knows if it'll last this time around, but I'm going on four weeks strong! It's helping that I'm not going with muted, plain colors - I want to play like everyone else is!

Week 1 - Princesses Rule! OPI (shimmery pink) with purple and green glitter on top

Week 2 - Princesses Rule! OPI with Crown Me Already OPI (silver glitter) on top

Week 3 - Essie Splash of Grenadine (bright berry)

Week 4 - Significant Other Color OPI (a lavender-mint oil slick)

After four weeks of no biting, my nails look healthy and are the perfect length - still short, but cute and respectable-looking. I've been using a great nail hardener base coat from my nail salon that I love, too - my manicures last a full week with zero chipping.

I can't wait to try out all these silly nail trends - now that football season is back (YES), you can bet I'm going to rock a gold glitter polish with black Shatter for Steeler Sundays. At age 26, I'm finally embracing girlhood full-on. Better late than never!

Summer Fashions That Leave Me Stumped

2011-07-23T22:22:00.000-07:00

All it takes is a stinky, humid heatwave to remind me that NYC living isn't really pleasant in winter OR in summer.

Seriously, it was 102 degrees out when I left work on Friday. You know that feeling when you stand in front of a furnace for a blast of heat on a cold day? Yea, it's like that outside, except completely unwelcome. It feels like my calves are going to burn off every time I walk in the path of a bus' exhaust.

In honor of this beautiful weather, I wanted to take a moment and express my confusion with certain summer fashions I continue to see year after year:

- Gladiator Sandals - This is not Roman times and there is no need for that many straps on your shoe.

- Rompers - Rompers were originally made for toddlers. I'm still not sure how it became acceptable for grown women to wear them. Plus, they make going to the bathroom nearly impossible.

- Visors - Isn't the point of a hat to shade your eyes and protect your scalp? Who's the genius that decided a hat with the top cut off was a good idea?

- Flip flop/Boot Hybrids - Gee, I really love boots, but I want to show off my pedicure, too. Voila! ...FYI, slouchy sacks on your feet with toe cut-outs look strange and are the opposite of flattering.

- Mandals - It does not matter if they are expensive, real leather or "dressy," mandals are not a good look. A better idea: cover up your pale hairy feet with sneakers or boat shoes, or wear regular flip flops.

Stay tuned later this year for round 2 of my opinionated fashion thoughts, winter edition.

The Bonnaroo Experience

2011-06-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

I let random strangers paint my body in the extreme Tennessee heat. Oh Bonnaroo. We did it in style. And it was so. much. fun.

One of the most well-known music festivals in the US today, Bonnaroo is a 4 day musical extravaganza in Manchester, Tennessee. Everyone camps out, lives in (all states of) freedom and harmony, and listens to music ranging from classic rock to indie bands to rap to dubstep. It was glorious big ol' hippie fest, and the closest I'll ever get to experiencing Woodstock.

There's so many ways you can do a music festival - rent a RV, drive down and bring your own tent, rent a tent or RV on-site, fly down and avoid the whole long drive, etc. As three (poor) girls, we decided that borrowing my friend's parents minivan for the drive down and renting a tent through Bonnaroo was our best option. We did NOT trust ourselves to correctly pitch a tent after a 16 hour drive, nor did we own a tent to pitch. Though a bit more money upfront, renting through Tent City was awesome. I can't recommend it enough! The tents were huge and they had cots inside, so we didn't have to sleep on the ground. And the major bonus - we were super close to Centeroo, where all the action happened. If you bring your own gear, you have no idea where you will get to set up camp - you could be 2 miles away from all the stages. When there are upwards of 80,000 people attending, it's nice to have prime real estate.

Now, if you're not an expert camper, there are just some things you won't know 'til you go. Things I've learned for next time:

- You need an awning to set-up in front of your tent. Shade is your friend!

- Coleman makes these super cool freestanding shower stalls for camping. That's a bit extreme, but we would've given anything for one of those saline drip-looking bags that you fill with water that become a "shower." Even just a hose to hook up to the various faucets set up in the camping areas would have been lovely. We paid for showers twice, and washed in a trough/slop sink another day with the masses...next time, I'd love an upgrade.

- Sunscreen for your head. I was pretty good about applying sunblock, I really was. Nevertheless, my scalp is still peeling off in sheets. Um, gross.

- Even if you bring a lot of food, you're bound to want to eat and drink inside Centeroo. It may be a lawless utopia, but you still cannot bring any outside drinks or large amounts of food inside, so pocket money is recommended. Plus, at a hippie fest, imagine all the delicious treats!

Oh yea, and I heard fantastic music all weekend. One thing I loved about Bonnaroo (compared to what I've heard about other festivals -cough- Coachella), is that it's not scene-y or pretentious at all. In fact, it's the complete opposite. Everyone is dirty and sweaty and wearing as little clothing as possible (due to the heat). It's all about the music and having a good time.

My love for music began in the 5th grade, when my classmates and I decided we were into alternative, listened to 104.7 The Revolution religiously and spent recess talking about Pearl Jam, Alanis Morissette, Nirvana and No Doubt. I've loved listening and getting into new music ever since, but I'd never consider myself someone really into the scene or an expert on new bands.

Bonnaroo reconfirmed that. There were so many bands I was unfamiliar with! I saw around 18 shows during the 4 day fest, but there were so many more I wish I could've seen. I came home and instantly downloaded new music from other artists I wasn't able to see. Some of my favorite shows from the week:

- Girl Talk. Hands down, the most fun set ever. Pittsburgh pride all the way! He played from 2:30am - ? on Saturday night. It was a sweaty pit of crazy dancing people, confetti and balloons, and it was incredible. My face was stuck in someone's armpit for part of it. I didn't care.

- Mumford & Sons. What can I say? Their music warms my heart and I can't help but smile when I hear their songs. They are SO good live. They played some songs from their upcoming album, and from what I heard, I am positive it will not disappoint.

- Arcade Fire. They were awesome. They had such great energy, and they played all their big hits from The Suburbs, and a few of my faves - Keep the Car Running and Wake Up. Plus the show opened up with parachuters in the sky. So cool!

- Eminem. I was surprised I liked his set so much. The whole "Recovery" theme from his CD carried into the show, and had you rooting for him. Everyone was so into it. And whether I liked it or not, I knew almost all the words to his songs!

- Florence & The Machine. She sounded just as hauntingly beautiful live as she does on their album. We had to leave their set early, but I would LOVE to see her again.

- Wiz Khalifa. Again, Pittsburgh pride! He was great. So much fun. I can't wait to see where he goes from here.

- The Black Keys. So good live. We missed part of their show (erg), but they were excellent and I'd see them again anytime.

- J.Cole. St. John's alumni, woo woo! Another fun set, another young rapper that I'm excited to see evolve and grow in the scene.

- Robyn. I wanted to see Cold War Kids...my group wanted to see her, so I went with the flow. She was really good! As nice as it is to chill and sit on the lawn and listen to music, it's more exciting to dance the afternoon away to energetic tunes.

- Scissor Sisters. Apparently I like the gay disco scene. Who knew? They were a blast, and led right into Girl Talk's set, making up the most fun Saturday night imaginable.

- The Strokes. Love. Not only was their music great, but we got the pleasure of seeing two ugly (completely) naked girls jamming out in front of us. Anyone know why the sound was a little low, though? I felt the same way at the Which Stage during Buffalo Springfield.

Other super goodies - Freelance Whales, Chiddy Bang, Best Coast, The Knux, Smith Westerns...

Oh, and about that body paint...there were three of them. A guy in a dish towel loincloth, a girl in a sunhat armed with paints, and a guy with Braveheart face paint, a black denim kilt and a shirt that read 'Free Hugs' in duct tape. We offered them beer and a PB&J for their mushrooms, and they offered to paint us. I had no idea it would entail having my entire exposed skin (other than shorts and a bikini top) coated in paint. They called us warriors. It was hilarious...until we had to scrub our skin raw with a scour brush the next day. Oh well. We looked amazing.

What a week.

How a Beauty Publicist plans to survive Bonnaroo...

2011-06-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

I'm going! I'm leaving momentarily! Yep, a beauty publicist is going camping at a big hippie music fest for the next 5 days or so. And I can't wait.

Wanna know what I packed to allow me to look hippie chic and not dirty patchouli grunge? Check it:

Dry Shampoo

The savior of lazy girls everywhere, my favorite brand is Klorane, and I always buy it from Sephora.

Baby Wipes

If the showers are just too gross, at least I will have a ton of Natracare organic baby wipes with me.

Mattifying Powder

DermaQuest's On-the-Go Finishing Powder is awesome. It comes in a convenient travel brush, goes on clear and has SPF 30. No burns for me hopefully!

Sun hats and headbands

Bad hair day? I'll just cover it up...and look cute doing it.

Eye Mask

Our tent is white. Meaning I'll wake up as soon as the sun rises. Um, no thanks. Silly eye mask it is. I may even stick it in the cooler so it's nice and cold going on each night. ( I got that tip from Gary Chardonnay!)

Okay, I'm off! Full review will come afterwards. Eeee!

Booze Cakes

2011-05-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

This past Christmas, my younger brother got me a recipe book called Booze Cakes from Urban Outfitters. Booze and sweet treats together... you know how to cut to the core of me Baxter.

I hadn't had a chance to bake anything out of it, though - I live alone and having a cake lying around for me to aimlessly munch on is a recipe for disaster. But when the little bro decided to visit a few weeks ago, it was time. The book had all kinds of tasty, liquor-filled concoctions, but I chose the Long Island Iced Tea Cakes. He's still in college, so I figured it was apropos (and maybe I could reminisce about bad decisions made after Long Island Iced Teas, too?).

Now, we all know baking is not my strong suit. So how'd it come out? Delicious - I didn't screw it up! The way the book laid out all the recipes was so simple. In addition to the usual labels at the top of each cake (how long to bake, how easy - difficult, etc.), there was a Booze Meter - a smiley face ranging from a slight smirk to a full on cheeseball grin to show the amount of booze used. The Long Island Iced Tea cakes had a nice big grin, obviously! The recipe was fairly simple. I just bought a bunch of liquor nips, lemon juice and Coke...the rest of the ingredients I already had at home. The finished product tasted like a lemony pound cake with a nice little kick. Here's the recipe:

CAKE ingredients:

- 2 cups flour

- 1/2 tsp baing soda

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 tbsp gin

- 1 tbsp light rum

- 1 tbsp tequila

- 1 tbsp vodka

- 1 tbsp triple sec

- 2 tbsp lemon juice

- 2 tbsp cola, chilled

- 1 cyp sugar

- 1/2 cup milk

- 6 egg yolks

- 1 stick unsalted butter

SOAKING SAUCE ingredients:

- 1 tbsp gin

- 1 tbsp light rum

- 1 tbsp tequila

- 1 tbsp vodka

- 1 tbsp triple sec

- 2 tbsp lemon juice

- 1 tsp sugar

- 2 tbsp cold cola

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and flour a 9x13 inch cake pan.

2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl - set aside. In a measuring cup, combine vanilla, gin, rum, tequila, vodka, triple sec, lemon juice, cola, 1 tsp of the sugar, and milk.

3. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks 5 minutes, or until thick and pale. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar and beat until yolks form a thick ribbon. Gradually beat in the butter and remaining sugar.

4. Beat in flour and milk mixtures in alternating additions. Pour batter into pan. Bake 20-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.

5. While cake cools, combine all soaking sauce ingredients in the cleaned and dried cake pan. Cut cake into bite-sized pieces; return hem to the pan to soak up the sauce, about 30 minutes to one hour. To serve, arrange on a platter with cocktail picks.

Yum! It was really good and got approval from my brother and all my coworkers. Since it doesn't have any icing and isn't too sweet, it goes perfectly with coffee or tea. You could even have a piece for breakfast (it's 5 o'clock somewhere?).

I felt so accomplished baking a cake - maybe I'll become one of those people that makes cakes for everyone's birthdays and big occasions (...probably not). There's a few others that I definitely want to try out. The Honey Spice Beer Cake, Pink Champagne Cake, Mocha Rum Brownie Bites, and Margarita Cheesecake all sound promising. If you're looking to bake a cake with a boozy twist, give this book a shot.

Booze Cakes by Krystina Castella and Terry Lee Stone

Finding Paradise in Miami

2011-05-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

New York City is an awesome city to live in, and I'm so lucky that I've been able to go to school and work here over the past 7 years....but sometimes you have to get out.

By mid-March, the stressful and frenetic pace of life here combined with the 'spring that just wouldn't come' was making me grumpy. Good thing I have friends in warm places willing to let me visit! Though I was born in Florida and still have a ton of family there (in the Tampa/St. Pete area), I had never been to Miami. It was time.

For just being a quick weekend jaunt, it was action-packed. I got in around Happy Hour on a Friday night and we immediately went to a bar in the Brickell area - all the cool kids go there apparently. Right after we parked in the garage I got my first true taste of Miami - a guy wearing red suede Ferragamo sandals and white linen pants got on the elevator with his girlfriend wearing leopard pants. Ha! After hopping around to a few bars, we finished the night eating Cuban pizza, which has a softer dough and is filled with bananas and carmelized onions. I think I like NY pies better, but it definitely had a unique and interesting flavor!

Saturday morning we drove out to Homestead in the "country" of Miami and went to a Amish farm to pick strawberries. Who knew I'd be put to work on my vacation? The farm stand also had delicious milkshakes (raspberry-chocolate, mmm), amazing breads and jams. My favorite purchase? Hot pepper guava jelly - makes a perfect rub for beef, pork chops or chicken!

Then we were off to Schnebly Redland's Winery (pictured above), easily the most unique winery I've ever been to. No grapes here - instead they create wines from tropical fruits native to the region....avocado, mango, passion fruit, star fruit, lychee...the list goes on. I bought the Lychee Wine, which was sweet with a hint of carbonation and reminded me of a Riesling, and the Avocado Wine, a smooth white wine with a buttery, creamy aftertaste.

After hitting up a rooftop pool party and relaxing at home for the evening, we decided to go out on the town. Did you know that there is no set time for bars to close in Miami?! What a wonderous thing! I thought we went out late in NYC, but we left the house at 1am that Saturday and still had plenty of time out and about. I'm not really the South Beach-long line-huge cover charge-grimy bouncer kind of girl, but we did stop on Lincoln Rd. at Segafreda for drinks before hitting up Bardot, the bar everyone was talking about all weekend. Bardot did not disappoint! We got there around 2:30am and danced til 6am, easy. The music was so much fun, and switched in and out from awesome song to awesome song. We finally called it quits when we noticed people starting to mop the floors and clean up.

Did the night end then? NOPE. Time for after-hours breakfast! Instead of your standard diner, we went to a Spanish 24 hour restaurant (when in Miami...). Yep, the menu was in Spanish. I left it to my friend to order, and we stuffed our faces with Columbian hot dogs. So delicious! I woke up with heartburn, but it was worth it.

My final day in Miami was spent on a pontoon boat off the Biscayne Bay looking at views like the one at the top of this post. Gorgeous! It's weekends like this that make me wonder if I could picture myself living in another city. I can. Not sure if it will be Miami (although I'd visit there again anytime), but I don't think I'll be a New York City girl forever. There's just too many other parts of the country that I want to get to know! I'm not willing to settle down until I find my perfect-fit city. It's out there somewhere!

Tretorn - Social Media done right

2011-04-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

It started with a Facebook request. Will you please 'like' this picture of me with the Tretorn bear? I want to win a ski weekend!

It ended with a new customer. I'm now in love with my Tretorn Skerry Reslig Vinter rain boots. So much so that I wear them even when it's not raining.

There are so many ways to reach customers in today's world. Straight up sales, advertising, public relations, and now the newest tactic to join the party, social media. Working in a boutique PR agency, many start-ups and small businesses come to us curious about creating an online presence and building relationships with customers through email newsletter programs, blogging, Facebook, Twitter...the list goes on. I don't claim to be a bonafide expert on the subject - my clients have smaller budgets, so I'm typically researching ideas for wall posts, gaining followers and deciding which blogs to partner with for giveaways, not creating new i-pad applications or anything crazy. But I do find the topic really interesting. Social media is constantly evolving, and sometimes it works incredibly well, and other times it doesn't do much to bolster a company's image. There doesn't seem to be a direct formula for it.

As a publicist, I'm not supposed to fall for social media tactics (Unless it's my client! In that case, I push them on every single person I know...), but I fell right into Tretorn's lap, and their Swedish goodness worked its way right into my heart.

I had never heard of the company before my friend sent me a Gchat message directing me to 'like' Tretorn on Facebook, find her picture on their page posing with the bear mascot, and 'like' the image. Apparently, whoever got the most people to 'like' the page and their picture with the bear would win a ski weekend in VT/CO/somewhere equally mountainous and cool. I did as I was told (as long as she guaranteed that I was invited on said weekend). Suddenly I was getting updates from Tretorn, a Swedish line of outdoorsy gear in my daily Facebook newsfeed. I could've just 'unliked' them and stopped receiving updates after the contest ended (my friend did not win sadly), but I enjoyed the updates. Turned out they had some pretty cute rain boots and gear, and Natalie Portman was photographed wearing them, and the company drove a Wellie Wagon truck around San Francisco and sold boots on the street. Kind of awesome!

The rainbow colored collection of rain boots made rainy days seem bright and fun and the images of the Wellie Wagon all over SF gave me my daily hit of wanderlust. Soon I saw an announcement for a site wide SALE. Those 4 little letters really call out to me. It was on. I clicked through to the site and found an adorable pair of tall olive green rain boots that were lightly lined and perfect for the cold rainy days of late winter/early spring. They were just $35 on sale! Done and done. Who needs Hunter boots anyway?

My Skerry Reslig Vinter boots arrived about a month and a half ago, and I've already worn them at least a dozen times. Even if it's just cloudy and gray out, I find it acceptable to wear them. And there you have it - Tretorn gained a new fan and customer, all through a Facebook contest.

Social media hard at work.

Just like riding a bike...

2011-04-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

In an effort to instill some zen minimalist principles into my life, I recently sold my car. My first car - the only car I've ever owned. Ahhh the Silver Fox. My parents bought me the lightly used Chevrolet Cavalier Coupe for my 17th birthday - they paid the down payment, but I was expected to make payments, and it was a proud moment when I paid it off my senior year of college.

Over the past year, the car became more stressful than helpful, though. Drowning in insurance payments, parking tickets, and maintenance work as the car aged, it was time to get rid of the old girl. She went to a good home of a new college girl in Staten Island - I felt like Andy donating his toys in Toy Story 3!

Sans car, it's been back to the drawing board. I'm lucky to live in NYC, a city where it's easy to rely on mass transit. Granted, it may take twice as long to get somewhere by subway as it would driving...but there's always traffic and parking issues anyway. My use for the car had more to do with weekend drives to the beach and visits home to Pittsburgh...I'll live.

My minimalist move of selling the car made me want to buy something else, though - a bicycle! The number of bikes on the road grows exponentially in New York as the temperature rises. As spring approached, cyclists were everywhere and I so badly wanted to be one. One small problem - I'm semi-petrified of riding a bike in the city. I've seen delivery boys get "doored" and flatlined on the road and I've known friends that flipped over their handlebars on potholes.

How's a girl like me supposed to survive? The last time I seriously rode my bike was on the Moraine State Park trails and through my surburban neighborhood in middle school. It's silly, but as the years have gone by, I've gotten more and more nervous to ride again, especially in my new urban surroundings. But, I'm willing to learn and I WILL learn this year. I checked out a bike shop near my apartment, googled my options...and ended up buying a $40 no-name beater mountain bike. It's metallic pink and the seat is a bit ripped up. Just my style (ha). It absolutely doesn't fit in my apartment, but I'm making it work.

Despite its faults, this bike is going to train me to ride again...it's my starter bike. I'm going to outfit it with a sturdy quick release basket up front for my stud muffin puppy dog Marlon and start by taking quick trips to Astoria Park and back. I hope to eventually work up the courage to bike through Manhattan or perhaps out to the beach, saving myself from an annoying LIRR commute. And if I end up really liking it, I'll save up for a nice commuter bike next year.

For anyone else out there interested - but apprehensive - of getting a bike and learning to ride in the city, I just found a really cool organization, Bike New York. They have *FREE* classes to help people adjust to bike commuting, learn to ride (for kids and adults), and understand traffic laws and your rights as a cyclist. Plus they host fun riding programs and events. I'm so amped for warm weather and excited to not feel pathetic hopping on a bike anymore!

I'll keep you posted on my progress!

The Great Winter Yoga Experiment

2011-03-06T21:01:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited that spring seems to be on its way! I have to admit - winter makes me miserable. I try so hard to "embrace each season" and all that crap, but unless I could spend the winter months curled up by a fire drinking hot chocolate and sled riding and snowboarding, I'd rather hibernate through the months of December through February.

The point is, I need activities to get me through those months. Specifically exercising activities, because the less I exercise, the less I want to exercise and the worse I feel about myself. So what's a girl to do? I hit up Groupon, Living Social and every other deal site I knew and decided to join yoga studios.

I've toyed with yoga on and off through college - I had a Crunch Yoga workout VHS and a Rodney Lee DVD that I would use when I couldn't get to the gym, and I always liked the stretching and flexibility aspects of yoga, but until last summer, I had never taken an actual class. Once I tried classes at a studio in Astoria near my apartment, I discovered how much I liked it. I got a workout and I left feeling at peace with my life and the world. Not too shabby. Only thing is, it's SO expensive!

With my deal-scouting savviness, I was able to find two unlimited monthly deals at different yoga studios in the city, each for just $40. Awesome! I decided to use them consecutively during mid-January through mid-March, to keep me out of depression and in shape through the winter pudge season. Through my two months of yoga sessions, I became familiar with Ashtanga, Hot Vinyasa, Iyengar, Vinyasa, and Bikram. I feel so much more knowledgeable about the subject! There's a lot of info to sort through online about different studios and yoga styles, but here are my impressions of everything:

The Yoga Room - Astoria:

This was the first studio I ever practiced at, and I really love it there. Located on 35th Ave. across from the movie theater and next to Panera Bread, once you step inside, the suburbia-central vibe of of the block disappears. The dark wood floors, warm pastel walls and chai-smelling candles give off a total zen vibe.

PROS - My favorite teachers there are Danielle for Tuesday evening Beginner's Vinyasa and Marco for any of his Hot Yoga classes (Bikram-style). Danielle really helps you visualize the way your body needs to be aligned, and the Vinyasa sequences are slow enough that you're able to "hit" every move. Marco is great at motivating you and telling stories to get you through the grueling 26 postures of Bikram in the 105 degree room without wanting to walk out. They also offer Pilates, massage and acupuncture - nice bonuses.

CONS - Classes here are $18 a pop, which is pretty steep. They offer Pre-Natal yoga classes and longer Restorative classes which is nice for those looking for that, but the only classes with frequent time slots are Vinyasa and Hot Yoga, and it'd be nice to have a little more variety.

Yoga Sutra - midtown Manhattan:

I used my first unlimited yoga deal at this studio, and I'm so glad I found it! If I could afford it, I'd make this my permanent yoga studio. Located on the 2nd floor of an office building near Bryant Park, it also has a totally zen and welcoming ambience. There's a reading room, free WiFi, lots of couches and tea and water if you'd like to come early or stay late after class.

PROS - This is a legit studio where many yoga instructors come to get certified, and all the teachers regularly study in India to keep up their practice. They offer so many styles, too! I was especially curious about Iyengar and Ashtanga, and was able to take multiple classes of both. The weekly schedule is packed with classes, so whether I wanted to go before work, after work or on the weekends, I could fit in a class - most weeks I went at least 3-4 times.

STYLES:

Iyengar - I really enjoy this style. It focuses on really opening up the body with deep, long stretches, and after being forced to stay in poses longer than usual, I leave the class feeling tall (haha), aligned and strong. Leslie's Community Iyengar classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings are my favorite - they wake me up and help me feel energized at the start of my day. Plus, it's donation-based which is perfect for poor yogis like myself!
Hot Vinyasa - When I signed up for my first Hot Yoga class at Yoga Sutra, I assumed it would be Bikram, but the hot classes here are all Flow style, meaning you're constantly flowing and moving from position to position through the whole class. I actually liked it a lot - since you're in constant motion and don't hold positions for very long, it's easier to forget how hot you are and how long the class is. Cliff's classes were great, but really packed at certain times.
Ashtanga - Knowing that this style is Madonna's hardcore workout of choice intimidated me, but I still really wanted to try it. Similar to Bikram, Ashtanga is the same set of poses every class, but instead of a hot room, the poses produce an inner heat as you work hard to complete them. Once you get really accustomed, you can take self-led Mysore classes, but Yoga Sutra also offers led classes with an instructor. The series is really long in its entirety, so I opted to take Led Half-Primary Series classes to get the hang of things. Both teachers I had, Lorrie and Erica were very kind and made it less scary. I actually wasn't that bad! I couldn't do the full headstand and a few of the complicated poses at the end, but not everyone in the class could either. Being a flexible girl, I loved some of the heavy duty twists involved, but a few poses felt just plain awkward. Definitely worth exploring more.

CONS - This studio is also extremely expensive. The cheapest membership is $150 per month and the single class rate is $21. Also, popular classes or anything held during "rush hour" after work fills up, so you need to sign up ahead of time online to make sure you can get into the class.

Bikram Yoga Union Square - Union Square:

I was most apprehensive of going to this studio, and with good reason. I'm not a huge fan of Bikram yoga, and the reviews online were not the best. The owner has a supposed drill sergeant demeanor, all the instructors wear headsets and they hock SmartWater in the middle of the class, taking advantage of thirsty, tired yogis. There were a few red flags, but so what? It was a damn good deal, and I figured maybe I needed that hardcore Bikram workout to really get me in shape. Plus, located in the heart of Union Square, I could walk there after work and my train station was right by the entrance.

PROS - I get a really great workout here; the sweat and toxins just pour out during those 90 minutes. And, as I keep going back, it gets less and less miserable each time! I know which poses annoy me, and I suck it up and do them. I know which pose signals to me that the worst is over, and I can easily get through the rest of the class. The front desk gives you a mini towel and two large bath towels with your membership, which is a nice touch, and I just make sure to bring my water bottle with me each time so I don't get stuck paying for a wasteful SmartWater bottle each time.

CONS - The reviews were basically true. The instructors do all use headset microphones, and they do it because the classes are so packed that you wouldn't be able to hear them from across the room otherwise. The microphone and general atmosphere doesn't feel nearly as peaceful as the other studios, and it has that lovely Bikram sweet sweat smell (kind of like an indoor pool?), but it gets the job done. They do sell SmartWater in between the standing postures and floor series, which irks me every time, but hey, I'm not buying. The locker room area is also a nightmare when one class empties out and the next is getting ready, so I'd recommend going extra early to scope out a spot. The other major con? This place costs $30 for a single class, and $180 per month for an unlimited membership - plus a rental mat is $5 extra (most other studios charge around $2). Those prices are cray cray!

As my unlimited yoga experiment is coming to an end, I realize I'm going to need to find a way to continue - I've really enjoyed going these past few months! With my dance background, it feels like a form of exercise that I can really excel at, and the peace of mind that comes with it is extremely helpful in a hectic city like New York. I hope I've been able to shed some light on the yoga scene here for anyone yoga-curious or looking for a new activity to get them moving!

Six Words Can Speak Volumes

2011-02-21T21:20:00.000-08:00

Phew. Valentine's Day is over. As any girl not in a relationship can tell you, Valentine's Day quit being fun after elementary school candy and card parties ended.

Now I'm not a compete cynic, I love showing other people that I care about them - I bought the three ladies in my office heart-shaped donuts from Dunkin on Monday! However, somewhere along the line, sharing your feelings with loved ones in honor of St. Valentine became a showy sport. Watching all your coworkers get flowers, hearing about battles over restaurant reservations and stepping onto a train full of guys carrying dozens of red balloons and bouquets of roses is just not that much fun for the rest of us. Am I being cranky or does that all seem a tad cheesy? I for one, would not know what to do with a bunch of balloons, and roses don't really thrill me (I do love the yellow ones, though)...

Rant over, but in honor of love - both present and lost - and the not-always-so-fun holiday that just passed, I wanted to share this. The New York Times recently posted an article about SMITH Magazine, a literary magazine that compiles narratives from readers, one of the most popular being their Six-Word Memoir project, the recent subject being love and heartbreak. It's Twitter-meets-poetry! These pared down love letters are beautiful and simple. Some are funny, some are sad, some are just plain heartwarming. Check out a few of my favorites:

Happy endings...

Wounded heart healed by good man.
Dog approves; maybe this guy's good?
Clueless Newlyweds Kids Laughs Still Thriving
Ups, downs and repeat. That's love.
Just married. Still figuring it out.

Not so much...
Love hurts. Choose vodka or valium.
He wasn't worth the panic attacks.
Loved her madly - then went mad.
I loved, he tolerated, then left.
Background check first; give heart second.
What would your six word memoir on love (or loss) be? Here's mine:

College love ended. I became me.

Censoring our Love Lives

2011-02-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

I caught this video on the Glamour magazine blog, Smitten the other day and I LOVE it. It's hilarious, sad and oh so true.

Why do we do this to ourselves? And when did we learn to do this? I want to say at some point in my life, before I was cynical and before dating was a group activity where everyone weighed in with their personal rules and guidelines, I spoke the first draft of my mind to boys.

Ahh, sweet sweet naivety.

God forbid we look foolish, or put ourselves out there when we're unsure of what the response will be. Don't get me wrong - nobody should bring out the crazy too early in a relationship, but there's something to be said about acting honest and being yourself. In the video, they erase every twinge of emotion from their conversation. In an effort to look cool, they make sure that neither one knows that they like one another at all.

At my first real job post-college, my boss was blunt and no nonsense. Her first comments on an email I drafted for an editor? Way too long and WAY too many exclamation points.

I learned to bland-ify my emails and make them more business-like, which was important for sure, but I always felt like they read as a tad rude. Emails and the written word can be so easily misconstrued. I'm a friendly person and I want editors and clients to see that through my correspondence.

Now at my second agency and with more freedom and trust from my boss, I write emails the way I want to. Are there exclamation points used? Yep. Even -gasp- emoticons from time to time. But, I learned my lesson from my first boss, and I keep my exclamation points and smiley faces to a minimum. I don't ever want to come across as cheesy, which is apparently my weakness.

The lesson here? Send your second draft.

I try not to obsess over what I say to the opposite sex, or anyone for that matter through email, gchat, facebook... BUT, I do try to keep my crazy in check, and read it over once to make sure I get my point across without going overboard.

I'm a Stainiac!

2011-01-24T21:12:00.000-08:00

The weather in NY has been brutal since Christmas, so I'm stuck in that winter mindset that feels as if there is NO END IN SIGHT. I'm always cold, my skin is pale, my lips are chapped, my hands are dry...blech.

However, what's the one nice beauty benefit to cold weather?? Rosy cheeks and just-bitten lips!

And on that note, I've found my new favorite cheek and lip stain to enhance what Mother Nature gave ya - Stainiac in Beauty Queen (a deep raspberry pink) by TheBalm Cosmetics. It's a water-based gel, so it glides on really smooth, blends well and doesn't "set" til you're ready (aka no leftover streaks!). I love the lip gloss applicator wand - it makes it so quick and easy to use.

I especially love how it looks on my cheeks - the color is subtle, but it stays put, too. I dabbed it on my cheeks at 8:30am this morning, and my cheeks still have rosy definition now, past 10pm. Amazing!

It works a couple ways on lips, too - I've been dabbing on a quick hint of Stainiac in the morning before work to boost life back into my chapped, weather-worn lips. Topped with a thick coat of Vaseline and Chapstick, it still guards against the blistery weather. The effect is probably only noticeable to me, but it gives that extra little something to my lips and keeps me from feeling too washed out.

When I layer the Stainiac on more, it takes on an near-lipstick look that's great for nights out. I hate feeling like I have gunk on my lips, so I'm not a huge fan of lipsticks and colored glosses, but a stain like this layered under lip balm and/or a clear gloss looks really nice. And on the plus side, you don't have to reapply...this sucker stays on for the long haul. Here's a little pic of me out with friends wearing it on my lips and cheeks. Love it!

I've tried 2 other cheek and lip stains in the past - Tarte Flush and Benefit Posietint, and so far I like this one better than both others. Posietint is a really pretty pale pink and leaves a great sheen on summer skin, but if it's not rubbed in quick enough, I notice faint blotches on my cheeks. And Tarte blends really well and has a cute color, but I feel it fades fairly quickly.

I'm so glad I discovered TheBalm! I spotted it recently at Sephora and the kitschy cute packaging and flirty product names (similar to Benefit) called my name. Ironically enough, both brands are based out of San Francisco, but TheBalm has one major point of difference - they love pugs just as much as I do!! The company site lists bios for three pug mascots in the office - Wheezie, Buddy and Guinevere...all almost as adorable as my Marlon. Not only that, they have a product called TheBalm to the Rescue, a vegan lip treatment (great for this time of year!) whose proceeds go a pug rescue organization in the Bay Area. That's next on my shopping list for sure.

So if the cold winter weather has got you down, perk up your mood and your lips and cheeks with a fun new stain!

New Year reviews and resolutions

2011-01-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

The New Year is here and I have to say, I have high hopes for 2011.

I do make resolutions, but I really attempt for doable things - last year my goal was to run a 5k (and I did it...4 times!). This year, my physical goals are to run a 10k and get my finances back in shape. My loftier (read: mental) goals that I hope to tackle this year are finding the clarity within all my daydreams and putting some direction in my life. And further than that, having the courage to take action and make the changes I'm seeking. I have some things in mind, but I won't go into detail here just yet...

This year seems like a promising year for me to make significant changes. Back in San Francisco when I visited the psychic, she told me that in the coming year, my life would come together and I would be happy. I also recently figured out my numerology chart for 2011, and out of the 9 year cycles our lives go through, this is my year 1 - my banner year! Here's the sum-up of what a personal year one denotes:

Personal Year 1...A New Beginning In Your Life
The current year is the beginning of a new nine year cycle for you. It holds the promise of being an exciting new adventure, with life taking on new challenges that pave the way for the next cycle of nine years in your life. This is a time to clarify your goals and it is a time to act on them. Hard work may be necessary to get a new venture moving. Your physical strength will be up during this year, perhaps higher than it has been for some time, as you have some special needs for this extra energy. If you are unable or unwilling to answer the call to change and make the move in your life the appears necessary now, your prospects may be delayed until the next cycle begins in nine years. Because of this, you feel like an adventure, a major change in your life, something new. New goals should be clearly set and worked toward, as this is really a new beginning of a nine year cycle and it is best not to dwell on the past at this time. This will be fairly easy for you to do because most of the problems and disappointments of the past will tend to disappear, leaving the way open for these new challenges. This is a great time; use it to its full advantage.

Please don't take me for a gimicky weirdo that reads too much into the zodiac, but sometimes, I really do feel like there's something to it. Not that I rule my life by horoscopes...it's just another way to understand your personality and where you stand in the world; another perspective to look at and measure your life and experiences against. And you know what, the psychic, the numerology chart, and even my fortune cookies on New Year's Day this year (a pleasant surprise is in store for me, and my existence has a positive contribution to mankind!) excited me. They give me hope and mirror what I've been feeling inside for the past several months - that I am figuring it out and that the sky is clearing up ahead for me.

Aside from resolutions, packed bars with expensive cover charges and crowded gyms, the New Year for me mostly signifies a passage of time. My birthday does the same. Each year on these memorable days, I find myself reminiscing about previous years and how much I've grown (or not...) in the past year. Sometimes it causes a few tears, but normally it's nice to take some time to reflect on the previous year and the highs and lows, and where am I am now compared to where I was before. I found a really helpful tool for this in the December issue of Whole Living magazine - check it out below (the print is a little small - my apologies).

I just did my "Year-End Review" last night, and I really liked the thinking and free-flowing writing it allowed me to do. Even though I enjoy writing and do it often for work and for this blog, I'm a perfectionist and typically re-read and fix things many times before sending or publishing. It was nice to not think about grammar or proper sentences and just let my mind and pen wander for once. Now I just have to figure out a place to store it so I don't lose it before the next New Year! I definitely think this is something I want to put into practice for each year.

Happy New Year, and may all your resolutions, hopes and dreams for the coming year come true!

the Dragon Tattoo Phenomenon

2010-12-27T17:25:00.000-08:00

After hearing so much talk about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, I finally tackled the trilogy of novels.

Set in Sweden, the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo introduces a cast of characters including investigative journalist and ultimate bachelor Mikael Blomkvist, genius hacker and antisocial 90 lb Lisbeth Salander, and private security company owner Dragon Armansky. Through a series of events, they team up to solve a near 50 year old crime and sift through an intense family drama that includes more scandal than you would ever think possible.

In the second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire, we learn the backstory of Lisbeth's own family drama that shaped her life and caused her general mistrust of all authority figures. Along the way, Lisbeth is wrongfully (maybe??) accused of 3 high-profile murders and is the center of a nationwide manhunt.

And finally, in the third book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Lisbeth's small group of trusted confidantes comes together to expose a huge government cover-up that's lasted 30 years and ruined many lives, including Lisbeth's and her mother's.

The three books all carried a common theme of exposing sexual violence towards women, but more than that, it even felt a bit like feminist literature. It seemed odd at times that it was in fact, written by a man. All the female leads were incredibly strong women - Lisbeth is 4'11", 90 lbs, bisexual, and knows how to box, handle weapons and kick any guy's ass, Erika Berger is the Editor-in-Chief of a major magazine and has an open and sexually creative relationship with her husband, Monica Figuerola is a hardcore policewoman, body builder and remains single and unattached to guys...you get the point.

Each chapter in the first book opened with an alarming statistic like this one: Eighteen percent of the women in Sweden have at one time been threatened by a man. In the third book, each chapter opened with a story tidbit about women in power throughout history, for example: An estimated 600 women served during the American Civil War. They had signed up disguised as men. Hollywood has missed a significant chapter of cultural history here - or is this history ideologically too difficult to deal with? Historians have often struggled to deal with women who do not respect gender distinctions, and nowhere is that distinction more sharply drawn than in the question of armed combat. (Even today, it can cause controversy having a woman on a typical Swedish moose hunt.)

Reading the various statistics and watching the development of these powerful women through all 3 novels almost made me feel bad. It brought me back to my 'French Women in Literature' class during my freshman year of college. I've just never felt "feminist enough" or something. Of course I'm proud to be a woman and I'm incredibly grateful for the women who have come before me and allowed me all the freedoms I enjoy today, but I've never felt like a minority and don't really feel the need to call so much attention to those topics.

But reading these books made me think. Do I play into gender stereotypes and baby myself because I am a girl??

Silly example, but over the past few years, I've been attempting to improve my athleticism. I've never been a couch potato, but now that I'm grown, I don't have three nights a week of dance classes and cheerleading practice and I want to fill the void with skills that are more universal and can be continued all my life, like running. But do I give myself excuses because I'm a petite woman? I've been running on and off for about six years, but I never felt confident or any good until this year when I trained and signed up for my first 5k race. I'm still pretty darn slow and I tell myself it's because I'm tiny...but really, I probably just need a drill sargeant to light a fire under my ass and make me go harder, longer, and without stopping in order for me to really improve.

It's an interesting thing to chew on. I mean, women and men are built differently, but do we play into these differences too much? Women's rights have come a long way, but we definitely still think of certain careers and lifestyle choices as more masculine or feminine. How much of it is necessary and how much is basic prejudice and stereotyping? I feel like this is a debate straight out of a Sociology 101 class, but if we didn't give girls dolls when they were little, would they still ask to play with them?

Ah well, anyways, it's a great set of novels and really pulls you into the drama. The only negatives I'll say about the stories are that they suffer from "Stephen King syndrome" - they're super intense and full of action, but drop-off in the ending (I could've done without the last 1/4 of the first novel). And on a minor note, the Swedish character names can be really difficult to keep track of; they all look the same! I'm excited to see the film adaptations of these books in the next year or two - hopefully they don't disappoint (even though most book translations to movies don't ever live up...).

I'm domestic, who knew? The Pecan Pie Adventure

2010-11-27T18:27:00.000-08:00

It's one of those classic stories from my childhood that I'm still teased about - one time while trying to make chocolate chip cookies with my best friend, we didn't read the recipe correctly and put a 1/2 cup of baking soda in the batch instead of a 1/2 teaspoon. Salty and disgusting, it was determined that I was not a baker.

Over the years I've learned how to cook various things, and when provoked, I really can cook a nice meal. Problem is, I'm not provoked enough and the "kitchen" in my studio apartment is literally the size of a small recessed closet, so it's extremely difficult to make anything of substance in there. I'm a work in progress and still waiting to figure out what kind of cook I'll be when I "grow up."

My mom is what I'd call a good midwestern cook - she loves the crock pot, her top dishes are meatloaf, chili, baked mac 'n cheese, and homemade soups/stews, and she's known for her crunchy fudge sandwiches (a butterscotch and chocolate version of rice krispie treats - yum). And somehow, she didn't know until about 5 years ago that garlic came in other varieties than powdered seasoning. My dad is the grill master - he loves his classic Weber charcoal grill, and uses any opportunity to bbq. Every year we do our Thanksgiving turkey on the grill in fact, and it never disappoints.

In college, I dated an Italian guy, and discovered all sorts of delicious foods I hadn't been exposed to previously. I never thought I'd learn to like anchovies or olives, and never realized just how delicious a good veal cutlet was. My stomach grew 3 sizes while we were together. I acquired so many great recipes from his grandma and impressed my Irish/German/French/Dutch/English family (I'm basically the European Union) on vacations with alige, mashed chi-chi beans, zucchini pie, and sauteed vegetables.

Living in France, I learned the value of eating real things versus synthetic and processed foods. There is no substitute for real butter, herbs, cream and sugar - if you're gonna do something, do it right. Helping the chef Bernard in the kitchen of the monastery in the mountains, I saw the care he put into each dish, and the joy of creating a meal from scratch and presenting it to others.

I try to take something from all the great cooks that have touched my life, but I've never conquered baking. I don't have as much interest in it (I have a latent sweet tooth, and I'm a mindless eater, so it's best for me not to make or buy sweet treats) and I'm always afraid of screwing it up. With cooking, you can sort of fudge your way through things, but not so with baking - one little mistake and the whole thing gets messed up!

This Thanksgiving, however, I decided to learn to make a pie. I wanted to pick an interesting one to be my sort of "signature." I decided on Southern Pecan Pie. Yes I knowww it's like one of the sweetest, worst-for-you pies, but if you only eat it once a year, it can't be that bad. Plus, it's delicious, not your basic apple pie, and reminds me of my Florida roots and my Aunt Regina that used to always make it for holidays growing up. And guess what - it was easy and I didn't mess it up! Maybe I can bake after all!

Here's my Aunt's recipe:

3 eggs

2/3 c. sugar

dash of salt

1 c. light corn syrup

1/2 c. melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 c. broken/chopped pecans

1 nine-inch unbaked pie crust

Beat eggs thoroughly. Add sugar, salt, corn syrup, vanilla, butter and continue mixing with a whisk or hand mixer on low setting until it starts to foam/bubble (about 5-10 minutes).

Layer the bottom of the pie crust with pecans. Make sure the bottom is completely covered and that no pie crust shows through. Pour mixture over pecans (the pecans will rise to the top).

Bake 350 degrees for 50 minutes and voila - all done!

I admit I used a pre-made Pillsbury pie crust, though. One step at a time people!

Ombre Hair

2010-11-17T19:23:00.000-08:00

I first read about "ombre hair" around January of this year. I was bored with my haircolor and kept seeing pictures of celebs (including one of my favorite style icons, Rachel Bilson) with dark hair that gradually faded to a light brown/blond at the tips. It looked so naturally un-perfect with just the right hint of surfer chic. It made me wish my hair could be sunkissed despite the frigid cold temps and I made the goal right then to go lighter and get these "ombre" highlights as soon as the weather warmed up.

As the months went by and I continued to daydream about kickass highlights, I saw more and more articles about the style... WhoWhatWear, Allure, Glamour, etc. It seemed like every actress I loved was embracing the look, too. So I assumed that when I went to a Manhattan salon in late May, the hairstylist would totally understand the look I was going for. Au contraire, my friends. She had no idea what I was talking about when I said "ombre highlights."

"You don't want your roots done?? Umm okay..." (with a scrunched up stank face, I might add) was her response.

Uh oh. Thank goodness I brought pictures with me. I know every magazine tells you to show your stylist pictures of celeb hairstyles you like before a cut/color...but do you guys actually do that? I always feel so corny whipping out a fan photo of Nicole Richie. Well, pride aside, I've learned my lesson over the years, and sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand descriptive words. Good news - the highlights turned out great. It was subtle and pretty and grew out to look even better than it initially did. And, special bonus, once I actually got some sun over the summer, the highlights lightened even more! I haven't had to touch the color since May.

But now, six months later, the color is fading away and my hair is unruly (it's long and thick and turns into a knotty bird's nest if I don't trim it every few months), so I decided to redo the color and get a cut over Thanksgiving at a salon back home in Pittsburgh. Good ol' mom called and booked the appointment for me yesterday and guess what - hairstylists still don't know what ombre highlights are! Say what you want about Pittsburgh, it's no New York and sometimes trends do get there a little slower...but the term "ombre highlights" has been used on ten million beauty blogs and magazines over the past year and 1 in 5 Hollywood celebs are rocking the look. Why do I still have to fully explain myself and sound like a crazy person that "doesn't want their roots done?"

...Or AM I a crazy person? Does no one else outside of the beauty PR world know what ombre highlights are?

Sigh, someday you all will catch up to my coolness and ahead of the curve-ness (kidding).

*check out my lovely little montage of various ombre-headed actresses...plus me, with wind-whipped and messy but oo-la-la ombre hair in Cali this September. Jolie, ne c'est pas?

San Francisco and the Perfect Aura

2010-09-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

A wise fortune cookie once told me (well, last month), 'The attitude within is more important than the circumstances without." I needed to hear that.

See this summer started out really fun, but somewhere towards the end of July, things started going sour. Financial issues, family stuff, career ruts....I started feeling a bit lost.

In the midst of all this, I remembered that I had planned to go to San Francisco over Labor Day. It's always good timing to go on a cross-country trip when you have no money! Argg. Well, I picked up weekend shifts at two different bars and worked hard to play hard. Despite the crazy work schedule, the trip gave me something to look forward to through the month of August (and my fortune cookie reminded me to refrain from getting too cynical or negative about things).

Well, the SF trip has come and gone. The outcome? I love San Francisco and my bank accounts haven't been frozen (...yet). It's the only city I've visited in California and it was only my second time there, but both times, the city completely brightened my outlook on life right when I needed it.

I love that people in SF seem happy and healthy. I love that dogs are treated like people, that everyone has one and that they run free in the parks. I love that people have active, balanced lifestyles and that laidback attitudes are more prevalent than stressed and unhappy ones.

During my stay, I got to do so many fun things. Our first day we spent doing touristy things (bang 'em out and get them out of the way in my opinion). We wondered through the streets until we found crooked Lombard St. and then headed to Fisherman's Wharf for chowder bread bowls. On a whim, we decided to go on a $15 boat ride around the Bay (the BYOB sign was calling us) and took lots of pictures. It was a great way to spend a sunny and windy first afternoon. That night we headed down to Chestnut St. in Cow Hollow for dinner and drinks with friends we knew in town.

Over the weekend, we headed to Napa. So pretty! We went on the Napa Wine Train one evening for a gourmet meal...our attempt at being classy after the previous night's debauchery. It was really scenic and the food was great, but we were clearly the youngest people there, and we were so tired and hungover that the older couples showed us up! They were partying and having fun while we were trying not to fall asleep and just wanted off the train, haha. I'd skip it unless you're 40+. The next day we did lunch at Mustard's Grill (yum!) and visited Rubicon Estates for some wine tasting. Rubicon happened to be Coppola's fancy pants vineyard (compared to his more family-friendly Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Geyserville). It was so picturesque! The wine was good, too...I suppose that's more important.

Back in SF for the remainder of our time, we did sushi and sake bombs off Chestnut St. the Sunday evening before Labor Day. Of course we were THAT group being loud in the restaurant while other people were on dates...oops? We followed it up by sake-fueled dirty dancing until who-knows-what-hour. We spent Labor Day laying in Golden Gate Park (hungover) and soaking up the sun when it peeped out from behind the clouds. Perfection. The other girls left a bit earlier than me, so I spent the rest of my California escape hiking through Sausalito and the Marin Headlands, and thrift shopping in the Mission and along Haight. I even hit up a Yang Yoga class at a climbing gym in true West Coaster fashion - I could get used to that life. Sigh, why does California have to be SO far from my family in Pittsburgh and my friends in NY?

More than just having a great time, being away from work and stress in NY gave me time to do some soul-searching. For laughs, the girls and I visited a psychic in Napa and the strangest thing happened. The woman read everyone's palms but mine! She actually stopped, looked at me and said, "I'm sorry sweetie, but I can't give you a reading today. You don't need one. When you walked in here, I saw your aura right away, and it was full of bright, beautiful colors. Your life and your karma are perfect, and everything will figure itself out within a year."

Um, what?

I mean, I just wanted to give the lady my $25 and have her tell me if I should stay in NY or consider a move, and if I was meant to have a career in PR like everyone else. But hearing that made me happy. It was quite an oddball thing to tell someone, but I think it was a reminder that I don't need to worry. All the issues I've been having are temporary (and there will always be issues and pitfalls to deal with), and all-in-all, my life is coming together. More importantly, my life is fun.

Thinking back on 2010 so far, I have to agree that this has been a pretty great year (and my horoscope tells me that the rest is gonna be fab, too. The Pisces is the luckiest sign for the remainder of 2010!).

Despite the bumps in the road, I've been able to look inward to figure out who I am and what I really want this year. I finally released an old sadness that I held onto for far too long, developed a lot of new friendships and strengthened old ones. I set goals to try new invigorating activities (running a 5k, learning yoga), and remembered to keep up with the things that make me happy – other than boozing with friends (painting, reading, Marlon, being independent...I like sober activities, too!).

I also accepted going with the flow this year, and embraced trips and people that landed in my lap. Going to a wedding in Alabama where I didn't know any other guests? Sure why not? And now I have new friends, a couple of which were just in SF with me. Planning a trip to SF for no particular reason with a girl I only met once (at said wedding)? Sounded like a great opportunity to get back to a city I love and get to know her even better. And it was.

I can't wait to see what else is in store for me...I think I'm on the cusp of something big. Hi life, I'm here, along with my perfect aura. Help me figure out what to do next!

Montauk...the end. And the LI summer beach roundup

2010-08-01T20:54:00.000-07:00

This summer I've done a nice lil' tour of Long Island beaches - first a week in Long Beach, then 4th of July on Fire Island and finally a weekend in Montauk. I can't decide which I like best! Each time I arrive at a new beach, I'm in awe all over again and immediately wish I lived there.

I don't know what it is, but I've been craving natural beauty lately. It's a strange feeling for a girl that left Pittsburgh for 'the big city' to have an exciting life. Right now all I seem to want is peace...space...and to be outside! I just get this sense of release when I'm in the fresh summer air, whether it be laying in the sun and walking through the park with Marlon or bobbing in the ocean and tackling waves covered in sand and seaweed. No rushing to get somewhere, no stress, no doing my hair or makeup, and most importantly - no staring at a computer screen all day.

I love being outside on a beautiful day no matter where I am, but for me, the beach takes the cake. I guess I've always been a beach girl - growing up I constantly teased my parents about wishing we would've stayed in Florida (the 3 rivers just didn't do it for me). Honestly, at the moment I think it's just that I'm sick of New York. NYC in the summer is hot, sticky, smelly, and empty. Everyone deserts the city on weekends via the LIRR or the Hamptons Jitney to hit the beaches...it was about time I joined in.

Here's my sum-up of my fave beach spots so far on Long Island:

Long Beach is great because I have a bunch of friends that live there, and it's one of the closest beaches from the city by car or train. Plus it sits on a strip of bars and restaurants that are fun every night of the week. I also like the community feel - you could live here year round (most people do!) and it wouldn't be strange.

Fire Island is fun because you take a ferry to get there and are on a literal island with no cars. On Davis Park where we went, there was one bar/restaurant for the whole beach - Casino (and it was a-maz-ing), one grocery store and snack shop (that ran out of eggs one morning - what??), and a boardwalk flanked by tree-shaded beach houses. Another plus? TOTALLY dog-friendly - Marlon's coming with me next time!!

And then, there's Montauk, the end of Long Island. Literally. I had fond memories of Montauk from a childhood vacation - my family came out to NY for a relative's wedding and then stayed in a little beach shack for a week. I loved it! We went sailing, saw the lighthouse, and my dad and I went on a deep sea fishing excursion. Actually, the deep sea fishing trip wasn't so awesome - the seas were rough that day and both my dad and I got seasick. First memory (and only I think/hope!) of watching my dad barf over me into the ship's port-o-potty. Good times. I felt like my body was rocking with the waves for 3 days afterwards. I digress.

I didn't really know what it would be like this time around...had it become more like an extension of the Hamptons? I mean, the Hamptons are tres mignon and all, but I like a laid-back, barefoot beach town. No shoes for me please. Montauk didn't disappoint. After 3 hours on the train, we stepped off and got into a cab painted like a surf board with a 40 year old driver blasting metal to head to the hotel. Our room's patio doors opened to the beautiful, simple beach. We drank on the deck that night, walked to all the bars on our block, and ordered pizza to be delivered to the pool the next afternoon hungover. Perfection. And let's not forget about our amazing dinner at the open air Crow's Nest restaurant, the 'Main St.' of boutiques and shops, and of course karaoke with Nanci and Jim (ha).

I wish I had a job that let me peace out for the summer months so I could get out of the city and into a cool and vibrant beach town. Sighhh wishful thinking I guess. Until then, at least I live in a city surrounded by beaches!

Makeup and the Morning Commute

2010-07-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

I've lived in NY awhile now and I take the N train everyyy morning to work, and there's one thing that I'll never understand (actually there are lots of things I'll never understand on the subway, but that's besides the point) - the ladies who get a seat and immediately whip out their cosmetics bag and proceed to spend the rest of the stop n' go bumpy ride to apply tons of makeup.

Not just a little lip gloss mind you, I'm talking LOOSE powder, mascara and eyeliner - as in a SHARP pointed object aimed at your EYES.

I just don't get it! In my opinion, if you wrangle a seat it should be used in one of 3 productive ways:

1. reading a book

2. reading a trashy magazine

3. zoning to music/sleeping.

I can barely function on the morning train sitting still, let alone apply makeup coherently. I'd end up looking like a freak show with eyeliner streaked down my face! Not only that, but I don't really like to do my makeup in front of other people - it makes me feel like I rely on it too much and seems superficial. Maybe it's because I'm at the wise old age of 25, or maybe because I have some summer color, but I don't really care that much about having lots of makeup on for work.

I'm not judging because I remember a time when I thought I needed a full face of makeup to be seen in public (basically late middle school through high school), but that me has come and gone. Unless I have an awful breakout, I'm meeting with clients at work or I'm going out at night, I have a 5 minute makeup routine. A little tinted moisturizer, concealer, mascara and cheek/lip stain and I'm good to go.

What do you think? How much makeup do you wear in the morning and are you one of those girls that does it on the train? If you are, HOW do you manage?? You have a skill I have never acquired - props to you!

My BFF Becky Bloomwood...and other ways of learning French

2010-07-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

Last week I watched Confessions of a Shopaholic with Isla Fisher, and though it got pretty terrible reviews, I have to admit, I thought it was sorta cute. Sure there were a lot of hare-brained schemes that wouldn't pan out in real life (Pretending that you can speak Finnish? Knowing nothing about finance and becoming a popular finance writer? Getting out of massive amounts of debt through a garage sale?), but I have a soft spot for Rebecca Bloomwood.

See, me and the main character of this book series-turned-movie have a special bond - she helps me practice French.

Please don't laugh, but I've found the best way for me to practice French is to read French editions of cheesy chick lit novels, and L'accro de shopping dit oui (Shopaholic Ties the Knot) was the first full French novel I ever read. It happened to be the third book in the series, but in a series of books about a girl that shops too much, it doesn't really spoil the thrilling plot to work backwards. I was amazed when I understood it and finished all 300-some pages of it!

It makes sense - when you first began reading, you stuck to simplistic books with easy to understand plot lines. Even if you were unsure of the meaning of a word, you could guess through pictures and context clues, and gradually learn more and more vocabulary. My simplistic books just happen to be chick lit.

When I started L'accro de shopping dit oui, reading in French finally clicked. In college I took so many French Literature classes, and reading even excerpts of classic French novels made me want to rip my hair out. I couldn't understand the archaic language, I would get bored from working so hard to comprehend it, and I would fall asleep. Or I would attempt to skim and understand the story through my intuition and street smarts, only to fail miserably during the class discussions the next day.

Reading comprehension of a foreign language is one of the quickest things you pick up, and one the skills you tend to retain the longest - but if you hate what you're reading and the language isn't modern, it won't help you in day-to-day life if you ever visit that country. I learned so many commonly used phrases and new vocabulary from reading the French Shopaholic series. How to say 'blow dryer' in French? Learned it from Becky Bloomwood!!

We're so secluded over here in North America and I feel like foreign language and international travel are often pushed to the back burner. Our schools generally don't begin teaching foreign languages until high school, roughly two thirds of the population has never gotten a passport (about 200 million people - via nodebtworldtravel.com), and we don't have easy access (aka cheap puddle jumpers and trains) to as many foreign countries as Europeans do. So unfair.

While we can't change the location of our country, I do wish we could change our attitude about the importance of other languages and cultures. Even though French isn't the most useful foreign language to know (Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin anyone?), I realized when I first set foot in Charles de Gaulle Airport that there's a whole other world out there where those vocabulary and reading comprehension lessons suddenly mattered.

When it comes to language - the way we communicate just about everything in life, full of nuances, slang, dialects, changing vocabulary and difficult grammar (where there's an exception to every rule) - you need to practice daily. I've always had such a strong desire to "get it" when it came to the French language, but I realize now after all those classes and my 2 month immersion escape in '08 that gripping the ins and outs of French will always be a challenge and every little bit helps.

Entertainment is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to maintain language skills but I wish things like this were more accessible in the US. At FNAC shops in Paris (a French version of Barnes & Noble), you could buy English or French translations of most popular books. I stocked up on the Gossip Girl series in French, the Shopaholic series and some books by Marc Levy (a well-known French author that's supposed to be easier to read). Here it's a lot harder to find popular novels in foreign language editions (it's all mostly textbooks and classics - blahh). You can try ordering books through Amazon.fr (or whatever other country you're interested in), but navigating the site in another language and with foreign currency can be complicated. I also recently found this site, French Bookworld where I saw French editions of Harry Potter and other recognizable titles.

If you're not a huge reader, watching DVDs with the foreign subtitles is also interesting. Anchorman with French subtitles is pretty hilarious (as if it wasn't already). Actual foreign DVDs are even better, but you'll need to invest in a zone-free DVD player...yet another annoyance of trying to immerse yourself in a different country's culture without leaving the States. Due to copyrights and other things I'll never fully understand, there are certain coded DVD zones throughout the world and our DVD players and laptops will not play DVDs made in a different zone. Sighhh.

Until I can get myself back to France (and with the look of my current bank account, it's gonna be awhile!), I can always pretend through books and movies, and make sure I don't forget all the vocab I worked so hard to learn over the years.

PS - Happy Early Bastille Day! :)

Newsies and their Influence on Boy Bands

2010-06-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

Today we were talking about Newsies at work. Don't ask me how the 1992 Disney movie about newspaper boys in New York came up, but regardless, any convo about Newsies is a convo I want to be a part of.

I feel like the movie was a little under the radar for anyone my age or younger - I was only in 2nd grade when it came out. You need to be more of a preteen girl to properly appreciate the awesomeness of Newsies, and when I was 13 and was part of a dance recital number to a song from the movie, my friends and I become obsessed. Like OBSESSED. My fave character was Spot...you know "never fear, Brooklyn is here!" My thirteen year old self is swooning.

Let's also not forget that Christian Bale was the lead character - he's done more than just Batman and An American Psycho people!

Annnnyway, I'm getting off topic. After a thorough discussion of our favorite scenes and characters, we decided that watching the musical numbers from the movie was a necessary part of our work day. Just as amazing as I remember! However, I noticed something that I never caught before....Newsies is totally the precursor to the boy band movement of the late 90s/early 2000s!!! Check out these sweet moves from the Seize the Day video:

And now, for your viewing and comparing pleasure, let's go back to 2000 and check out 'NSync's Bye Bye Bye video. Ummmm do their dance moves during the chorus look familiar?

Love it.

Yes We Can - vote Histoires de Parfums!

2010-04-28T17:35:00.000-07:00

So, if you read this blog, or know me personally, you probably know about my love of all things French (reference my posts from August - October 2008!). Well, lucky for me, my agency began working with Parisian fragrance collection Histoires de Parfums last December.

The collection of 16 fragrances has the coolest backstory - for those with zero knowledge of the French language, "Histoires de Parfums" translates to "Perfume Stories" and each scent tells a story - of a historic figure, legendary place, revered plant or idyllic year. It's fun to learn about the muse behind the fragrance - even the boxes are shaped like an old book to complete the theme.

I have a tough time with fragrance - anything too strong tends to give me a headache - and these are some potent traditional French eau de parfums... But as I've worked with the collection I've learned so much about the power of scent and how to properly appreciate it. My favorites so far? Vert Pivoine: a fresh and watery peony scent, 1889 Moulin Rouge: a unique scent with notes of absinthe and lipstick, 1969: a spicy unisex scent with citrus and chocolate notes, and Tuberose 3: a warm unisex scent with plum and dried grasses.

Speakingggg of Tuberose 3, I have a favor to ask. Histoires de Parfums's new Tuberose Trilogy has received the incredible honor of being named a Top 5 Nominee for the 2010 FiFi Fragrance Foundation Awards. This is HUGE! We're so proud to have made it this far - but now it's up to you!

Everyone is invited to vote for their favorites in each category through this link. If you want to support us, we'd be ever so grateful! Voting is open from today, Wednesday 4/28 - Wednesday 5/19 and the Tuberose Trilogy is nominated under the Unique Boutique category.

Here's some more info about the nominated Tuberose Trilogy, a trio of distinctly different scents all based around the tuberose flower:

Tuberose 1, Capricieuse: a powdery floral with top notes of bergamot and saffron, middle notes of ylang ylang and iris, and a dry-down of suede and cocoa. A little sweet, a little salty.
Tuberose 2, Virginale: a floral oriental that opens with mandarin and cherries, leading to middle notes of jasmine and frangipani, and base notes of vanilla and patchouli. Cheery and fruity, and the most feminine of the bunch.
Tuberose 3, Animale: a leathery floral with top notes of neroli and kumquat, strong middle notes of plum, herbs and dried grasses, and a dry-down of immortelle flower and blond tobacco. The most masculine of the three, but the ladies like it, too!

Not sure if you'd like the scents? I'm happy to send you a sample of your choice (I'm capping this at 10 people though, sorry folks)! Just send me a note or a comment below with your fave of the trio and your address.

Don't forget to vote - Yes We Can, or Oui Nous Pouvons!

my first 5k!

2010-04-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

I ran my first 5k this weekend. No stopping, no walking....BOOYAH it felt good.

See, I've always felt kind of pathetic when it came to running. My dad - a runner. My brother - any sport comes naturally to him so he's running a 1/2 marathon in two weeks. Sighh, me - not so much. I was always more into dance and cheerleading growing up. I'm extremely petite (to put it nicely) and my face tends to turn tomato red after running about 10 minutes.

But, in January, when it was freezing cold and I was miserable and feeling the weight of eating too much junk over the holidays, I decided to run a 5k this year. If old men can run marathons, surely I could at least manage to run 3 miles in front of other people without stopping.

So how'd I do it? A cool little training schedule I found online called C25k or 'couch to 5k'. It's technically made for extremely inactive people with zero running experience, so I figured there would be no way for me to fail. The program is 9 weeks long with 3 short runs a week. Week 1 began by alternating 1 minute of running and 1.5 minutes of walking for 20 minutes (easy peasy!) and slowly built up to running 20 minutes straight after 6 weeks, 25 after 7, 28 at 8, and a final week of three 30 minute runs. And voila - 30 minutes is (give or take) about how long a 5k run should take. I felt so good at week 7, I skipped week 8 and went straight to running 30 minutes. My biggest problem ended up being boredom! Running on the treadmill in my apartment facing the wall got pretty boring. I even tried to spice up my wall decor by adding a fake naked picture of Johnny Depp I cut from Cosmo, haha.

I chose a small race in Astoria Park this past weekend for my 5k debut. Just in case I ended up being super slow, I didn't want to get pummeled by a bunch of NYC Road Runners! The race benefitted QSAC - Quality Services for the Autism Community of NYC and LI. That's another cool thing about races - the proceeds always go to good causes, so you feel like you're contributing to something bigger than yourself.

And how'd I do? My finishing time was 33:40 - not so bad for a first time!! I even ended up passing up some guys which made me feel pretty good about myself. I won't lie and say it was easy...I was tired, and I wanted to stop during that last mile, but i didn't need to stop. I knew I could do it. And it was kinda fun having people cheer you on on the sidelines - I liked being cheered for instead of being the cheerleader for once!

In summation, if you need a kick in the pants when it comes to fitness, set a goal for yourself. I do so much better when I have a standard to hold myself to. Things can get boring when you do the same jog, or the same yoga workout every week. If you want to check out the program I used, here's the site: www.c25k.com. Summer is around the corner - so get your butt on the treadmill! ;)

Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper

2010-03-15T17:49:00.000-07:00

Recommended to me by a friend, I recently read Diablo Cody's memoir Candy Girl. What a quirky and fun story!

Somewhere along the line I learned that the writer of Juno had a background in stripping and that she was funny, but reading this drove the point home. You can easily read this book in 3-4 days - I mean, obviously the subject matter (stripping in all its glory) is intriguing, but the way she brings you into that world widens your eyes, cracks you up and makes you not want to put it down.

Candy Girl chronicles Diablo Cody's one illustrious year as a stripper. Working at a dead end office job in Minnesota, she randomly decided to try out for an amateur night at a seedy townie strip club for curiosity's sake, but the curiosity didn't stop. Pulled into the crazy nightclub, cash rich, boobs=power lifestyle, she kept stripping on the side and eventually did it full time, with a stint as a peep show doll and a phone sex operator thrown in there, too. Her candid, honest take on the sex industry combined with her absolute normalcy and blatant sense of humor made this a great read. I realize why I liked the movie Juno so much now (And on a side note, I really should check out Jennifer's Body and the United States of Tara).

Aside from the entertaining subject matter, her voice is what really got to me. I saw a bit of myself in there. As the subtitle states, for her it was "A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper." As she developed into a stripper - buying the wigs, cheap bikinis and platform heels, becoming friends with her fellow workers, and grinding on strangers for tips night after night - she kept the perspective of someone on the outside looking in. Never quite sure if she fit the part and was indeed a "stripper" with all the stigmas and stereotypes attached.

I have the habit of trying out new personas - kind of like an actress going through life and trying out new roles every few years. In junior high, I set a goal to become a cheerleader. I played the role well but I was never sure if I fit in or had the right character for the job. At 18, I decided to become a New Yorker. I've lived here 7 years now, but I still don't embody the typical "New Yorker" attitude and I'm not sure I ever will. At 20, I became a bartender. I love the power, fun and cash that come with the title (and this may be the happiest and best fit I've found for myself so far), but I still doubt myself and my ability to blend in at times. At 23, I decided to travel to France and throughout Europe by myself. I don't know if I fit the mold of a true "world traveler," but I did have the time of my life...

This book almost made me consider taking a spin around the ol' stripper pole, butttt not quite. I already know that cash heavy, boobs=power world full of quirky middle-aged regulars and hopeful college boys, and I'm happy I just have to serve them drinks and nothing more (ha).

So, if you're curious about the world of stripping but can't see yourself hitting the next amateur night in your town, try this instead. Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper

Thoughts on Beauty and Life as a Girl

2010-03-11T18:38:00.001-08:00

I remember using Cision (PR speak for the Yellow Pages of editors, bloggers and producers) for the first time almost 3 years ago at my first job. I was updating our Beauty Bible of editors and thought it was a tad strange that they were all classified as "beauty and grooming editors." The word "grooming" conjured up images of cats licking and matting down their fur...why not just call them beauty eds?

Fast forward to last week when I was leaving the salon near my office after getting a wax. It suddenly hit me...in today's world, beauty IS grooming.

grooming - to care for the appearance of; to make neat and trim

And let me tell you, for ladies, there is a lot to care for. Manicures, pedicures, brow tweezing, waxing and shaving everywhere, expensive face creams, makeup, lash enhancers, haircuts (TG I don't have blond hair, getting regular highlights would be such a bitch)....

And this really isn't an exaggeration - there is NO SUCH THING as a natural beauty. We aren't in the times of Adam and Eve anymore. It's not being fake, it's just the reality of being a girl.

The upkeep can get exhausting and I swear it's not always fun (some parts of grooming do NOT feel good), but without shaving everyday, getting regular hair trims and just generally taking care of ourselves, we wouldn't be considered confident women...and we probably wouldn't get any dates either.

That's all. Just a thought on grooming's place in the world of beauty. It's both the savior and bane every girl's existence!

Ah, the joys of New York living...

2010-02-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

Hey dolls, it's been a bit. Not sure why I've been out of touch - long hours at work, winter slump, lack of inspiring things to write about...excuses, excuses I know.

Well, even if it's only to explain how stupid I am and have it in writing that I plan to change, I felt the need to write tonight.

I have lived in New York for almost 7 years now, and for the first time, I had my bag stolen. I've been extremely lucky thus far considering I can be careless while out at bars - I tend to put my things down and forget about them and I may have thrown a phone or two into oblivion on a tipsy walk home, but I've always managed to come out without much damage. Not anymore apparently.

Last weekend I was fist pumping away to Pauly D's spins with my Snooki poof and JWoww dress at Sutton Place (yep, I really did that - check out my quote and pic here) and some GRIMY GUIDETTE stole my bag!! My expensive, favorite Botkier bag with all my belongings inside including nice digital camera, wallet with license and credit cards and apt/car keys. Miraculously I still have my phone. One second the bag was with me, the next it was gone. I must've been beatin' up the beat while texting, because there's no other explanation for me to have my phone and nothing else (hooray for multi-tasking!). Searched the bar, called the bar next day, filed a police report, posted a message on Craig's List...nothing. Tried tracking down my last remaining spare car key to no avail. I am now replacing door locks, car locks, credit cards, insurance cards, and sending away for a new license - not fun.

Game-changer. It's time I quit trusting people and became a full-blown skeptical, paranoid New Yorker. How am I going to change? Ohh let me count the ways.

1. No more expensive bags. If I'm only 24 and can barely afford my rent, I have no business carrying a bag that's over $100. Nuff said. For now, I'm relying on Urban Outfitters and sites like Lulus for trendy and not terribly cheap looking bags. And when I go out? Wristlets and bags somehow attached to my body only.

2. No more cameras in bars. Do I think I look good in drunk pictures? Because I don't. There's no need for me to take an expensive camera when I go out. I hate posting pictures on Facebook anyway. I'll leave the photography and bad pictures to someone else.

3. Multiple spare keys left in multiple places. And they need to live near me. Getting a key mailed from another state takes far too long and I've racked up way too many tickets. Thanks alternate-side parking laws!

4. Only one credit card and $40 max are allowed to come with me to a bar. I didn't have much cash on me when the bag was stolen, but seriously all my credit cards? What was I thinking? Canceling 3 credit cards and a debit card is a-nnoy-ing.

5. Time to become a NY resident. I'm sick of mailing PennDOT money and waiting weeks for a new, valid license every time I'm up for renewel/I lose it. Over it. I hate my latest PA driver's license picture anyway and I'm ready to quit paying double state taxes.

My 25th birthday is in exactly a month. Guess it's time I reel it in and man up to responsibility. Oy, wish me luck.

No Longer an At-Home Hair Color Virgin!

2009-10-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

As a beauty publicist, it almost pains me to begin this post with an economic tie-in (kind of beating a dead horse at this point). But yet I'm doing it anyway...

Everyone is penny-pinching these days, and I suppose I'm no different. I'm packing lunches (gag... sandwiches get soggy by lunchtime!), doing my own mani/pedis and last week I even dyed my own hair!

I admit I've been a hair color snob in the past. I don't put color on my hair very often, but if I'm going to do it, I do it right and go to the specialists. No way I want to chance screwing up my hair with scary color-altering chemicals!! Sure I know plentyyy of people that have had great results with at-home color, but I never had the desire to go there.

Well, bored with my hair and in the mood for a change, I polled my friends to find the best/cheapest salons in the city for lowlights. At $100 or more, that simply was NOT happening right now. So, I decided to go for it. I researched a little online and bought my first box hair dye: L'Oreal Color Spa Moisture Actif in Medium Ash Brown 20.

The results? I love it! It was just the change and color boost I needed. I chose a demi-permanent, so it will wash out in about 28 shampoos in case I get sick of it, and it's ammonia-free so it won't damage my hair. Since I have light brown hair naturally, I stuck to one shade darker in an ash tone to eliminate any uber shocking color or potential brassiness.

I'm a changed woman and no longer afraid of a $7 boxed color lift. What do you think??

The Aftermath - One Year Post-France

2009-09-23T20:55:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up, my mom would give my brother and I one new ornament for the tree each Christmas Eve. The ornament would somehow symbolize the year - a posing Marilyn Monroe the year I fell in love and decided I wanted to be an actress, a shamrock the year I began Irish step dancing, a singing Frank Sinatra the year I came to NY for school...you get the point. Each year has a focal point when you look back.

In 2008, I realized that I didn't need to depend on anyone other than myself. I saw my need for independence and escape, and fulfilled my dream of living in France.

On this exact date one year ago, I spent the afternoon exploring the Marais neighborhood of Paris with an American expat friend - eating amazing falafel, shopping and enjoying happy hour Caipirinhas while discussing the quirks of European men...

Leaving my job last September to live in France for two months by myself was the experience of a lifetime. I got to be adventurous, practiced the language everywhere I went, didn't answer to anyone, and spent each day doing whatever the heck I wanted. I can't believe it's been a year.

Objectively, my life seems a lot more boring nowadays. Today, September 23, 2009, I rolled out of bed to my alarm at 7:45am, headed to work in the office for the day, and came home to watch the season premieres on TV with my best friend/puppy dog Marlon.

I'm kind of okay with it, though. My life has a calm rhythm most days. And, even though I'm not much of a jetsetter, a lot happened in '09. I began volunteering with a pug rescue group, adopted my first dog, found a new job with coworkers and clients I love, and moved into my very first studio apartment (as in no roommates - just me!) in a brand new neighborhood of New York.

2009 has had a different purpose - this year I became a grown ass lady. I took initiative and created a career and life of my own in NY. I took responsibility for something other than myself and became a mom...even if just to a 20 pound snorting pug. :)

That being said, I'm fairly certain I'm getting either a pug or house ornament this Christmas. Good ol' mom.

Vote Ada Polla for Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year!

2009-08-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

As a female working in the beauty industry, we gots to support one another.

Now, I don't personally know Ada Polla, but she is the President and CEO of Alchimie Forever, an amazing Swiss skincare line sold at Bendel's, and from looking at her picture, she can't be more than 10 years older than me (or maybe those products work especially well...). A young woman that is the head of a successful luxe skincare brand-- now that's someone you can really aspire to.

Ada Polla is a finalist for Entrepreneur Magazine's 2009 Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award and she is the only beauty industry entrepreneur nominated. That's huge!

Please join me and support Ada, the beauty industry, and female entrepreneurs everywhere by throwing her your vote!

http://www.entrepreneur.com/e2009/vote/emerging.php

The voting process is incredibly simple and won't take more than 10 seconds.

Not convinced yet?

In addition to being co-creator of the antioxidant-based skincare line, Ada founded The Network of Entrepreneurial Women, an association for women entrepreneurs in the Mid-Atlantic region and she graduated from both Harvard (undergrad) and Georgetown (Masters) at the top of her class.

Geez, throw a girl a bone! She totally deserves the honor of Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year. Hope you'll vote!

Week in the Smokies

2009-08-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

In the interest of exploring the world one region at a time, I was originally pretty interested in meeting up with my Dad's whole side of the family in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee this summer. Then, I realized that meant my 2009 week's vacation would consist of mountains and Wal-mart instead of beaches and sun.

Let's just say I went into this vacation not the most excited in my life.

Now, it wasn't my all-time favorite vacation, but in the end, there were a lot of great aspects to the Smokies.

1. It was pretty. Tons and tons of rolling mountains and streams and lakes everywhere.

2. There was a lot of green. I guess I'm not really used to nature anymore. Maybe New York does that to you... But, on this vacation, I reconnected with childhood. I played in the woods and went hiking and my uncle fell in the creek. Totes felt like childhood. :)

3. White Water Rafting. Really sweet. See hilarious picture above. (Yes. "That guy" is my brother.)

As a bonus, our tobacco-chewing mountain man River Guide slapped my ass when he pulled me into the raft -- he got a good tip. haha

4. Lots of history. During a drive through the mountains we stopped at a really old church/graveyard combo with tombstones from the 1800's. Between the Southern drawls around us and all the stuff about "Rebels" and the Civil War, I felt a bit like I was in Bon Temps, True Blood-style.

Things I would do differently if I went again:

1. Rent a house with a private pool or not go during the summer. It was hot. Really hot. And I had no ocean or pool to dive into all week. And no sun deck to lay out on. Dreams of coming home with a golden tan = shattered.

2. Do not go into Pigeon Forge. I repeat, do not go into Pigeon Forge. Gatlinburg is also questionable. It's a cheesy tourist trap and I can't believe anyone chooses to vacation like that. We only drove through on the way to the God-forsaken Wal-Mart, but the traffic was intense and the entertainment on the side of the road looked awful. "Helicopter Rides!" "Fireworks!" "Ripley's Believe It or Not" "Dollywood" "Fish and Tackle Superstore!" No thanks on all accounts. In my uncle's words - Red Neck Disneyland.

3. Figure out exactly what you want to do there ahead of time, and stay somewhere close-by. The amount of time I spent in a car that week nauseates me even today thinking about it. The amazing lake with pontoon boats - 45 minutes away. White water rafting - 30 minutes away. Major scenic mountain drives - 1 hour away. Wal-Mart (grocery shopping for 20 people is quite the task) - 45 minutes away.

But, the important part was seeing the whole fam and eating and drinking as much as possible all week. And for that, this vacation totally succeeded.

Invention Convention - Flats for the afterparty

2009-06-15T19:11:00.000-07:00

Omg, this needsss to come stateside asap! This was on Perez tonight, and if you're one of the 5 people in this world that doesn't read Perez, I'm re-posting for you.

No lady, tranny or Kardashian likes schlepping it home in heels after spending the night dancing at the club.

Well, a genius Brit has come up with a solution: Vending machines that sell flats!

Female clubbers in Britain have been enjoying the comfort of slipping out of their stilettos and basking in the joy of flats at their favorite hot spots. For about 5 pounds (which translates to about 8 bucks), a pair of cushy flats can instantly be yours for your aching feet. And they boast being super flexible, so they can be folded up and stashed in your bag for latter usage.

Founder of Rollasole, Matt Horan, is one clever fellow and his inspiration was nothing short of moments of sheer inconvenience: "After getting tired of giving my girlfriend a piggyback home every Saturday night, I had a 'eureka' moment."

Bring that shiz stateside! American girls party hard too!

Perez is right, American girls party hard, too and we deserve to have vending machines that sell flats when our feet hurt from killer heels, as well. Can we start a petition? This is such an ingenious idea!

PS - They're cute, too! Check out www.rollasole.com

PPS - I'm betting I have an old boyfriend or two that wishes they came up with this first... hahaha

The Big Move

2009-06-15T18:13:00.000-07:00

Breaking News: Moving is Hard.

Yes, I understand this is something I should've known already, but geezzz, for this past month and a half, I've been completely preoccupied and stressed out about moving.

Now, this was a big move for me. I was moving into my own place (yikes!) and moving out of the only neighborhood in New York I'd ever lived in (double yikes!). Plus, I was moving out of a huge (albeit crappy) three bedroom apartment and into a studio, hahahah. Helloooo downsizing.

But, I did it. I am now happily moved into a cute little studio apartment in an awesome dog-friendly building in Astoria. Now I am THE worst at making decisions and I like to wait until the last moment on things often, but I was able to pull off this move pretty smoothly. Here are some services and tips I found helpful through this awful process:

1. Checking out every shady listing on Craig's List or paying a hefty broker fee sort of seems like choosing the lesser of two evils. Guess what? There are other options.

- I signed up on Rent Direct New York. For about$200, you get 3 months of access to tons of legit, no-fee rentals throughout New York. You are assigned an agent that works with you to find listings that fit your needs and they have a midtown office if you want to meet face-to-face for more support.

The downside for me was that my search was very niche. I knew I wanted to live in Astoria (by this point, I'm a Queens girl I suppose...) and I was only willing to pay a certain amount. I didn't end up finding my apartment through Rent Direct, but the extra $200 was nothing compared to what I could've paid a broker and I liked having this service to fall back on.

- No-fee brokers do exist! I called on an apartment I saw listed on Craig's List and got connected with Anu Dutta. He became my broker and I didn't have to pay him a cent. Certain building management companies hire agents to show their apartments, but they pay him, not me. Anu was great. Extremely helpful and I now have a new gchat and facebook friend, ha.

2. Even if you're setting out on your own, bring other people with you to check out each apartment. I had a rotation of 4 different people that I'd bring along every time I made an appointment to see a place. That way if it ended up being a creepy landlord or a dump in the wrong area of town, I wasn't alone. And if I loved it, I had someone else to bounce ideas off of, and sometimes to bring me back down to Earth.

EX: "Yea it's an okay apartment, but open the window. You're right next to the train!" (as the apartment rumbled and a train went by)

EX: "Adrienne that place was a shoebox and smelled like kitty litter. You can do better."

3. You're never too old to ask for help from family. This was the first move where I didn't throw all my crap in trashbags the night before and make my boyfriend lug anything heavy. I needed to sort through things, pack things in -gasp- real boxes and do it ahead of time. I needed help and I realized it. Thankfully, american girl's dad, the ultimate american dad (He's a truck driver, loves classic rock and owns a Harley - case in point.) and the rest of the fam came out to Queens for the weekend to help. Dad and brother = my movers. Mom = cleaning lady and decorator extraordinaire. I couldn't have done it without them.

And now, I'm settled and happy in Astoria. No more Angelo's (although I did celebrate with the family there one last time), now it's all about the Brick Cafe. Moving on up and starting fresh. :)

the new Yankee Stadium!

2009-05-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

So, summer is officially here. I went to a Yankee game. :)

On Friday May 15, not only was I setting foot in the ballpark for the first time of summer '09, but I was stepping into a brand new ballpark. And let me tell you-- it's a beaut.

Coming from Pittsburgh, I know a thing or two about building new ballparks... 8 years ago we ripped down our old and drab Three Rivers Stadium to build two amazing new fields: PNC Park and Heinz Field. We went from having an ugly stadium to having fields that people want to visit, regardless of how crummy the Pirates are doing.

Telling my mom that I was going to the new Yankee Stadium, she said, "Ohh wow, does the new one have river views??" I laughed and reminded her that it was still the Bronx, ha. The new Yankee Stadium isn't anything like PNC Park (we have the river views there!), but it really is beautiful and a nice new addition to the city. "The Great Hall" when you enter the stadium is amazing. It feels like you're in a coliseum of sorts. Huge arches, open and airy...and then there's a tv that's as tall as a house, no joke. Very cool.

Once I was in my seat and looking around, I still felt a bit like I was in the old Yankee Stadium, it was just bigger, and newer. The cement slab hallways were so white and clean!! But the white arched top of the stadium with all the mini flags going around was just the same. We had absolute nosebleed seats, but it didn't even matter. Even from all the way up there, we had a great view. Only thing was I couldn't tell Jeter from Matsui without the help of the announcer or the jumbo-tron, ha.

To top off the fun experience, we saw a greaaat game. Losing in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and the bases loaded, Melky hit a two-run single for a walk-off win. A-maz-ing. Even better? I watched it from the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar located basically on the field by the bullpen. The view was so perfect, you weren't allowed to take pictures because we were in the batter's line of vision. Can you even??

We finished the night at Stan's. How can you not? New stadium or not, you always gotta go to Stan's. :)

Pittsburgh blowing up on the big screen!

2009-04-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

First Zack & Miri Make a Porno, then My Bloody Valentine and now Adventureland. I feel like my hometown is becoming famous!!

Now, I won't kid myself, I realize one of the main reasons movies have been filmed in Pittsburgh lately is probably because it's significantly cheaper than filming in New York, but still... there's no better city to deserve some on-screen action.

I just saw Adventureland today, and the more I think about it, the more I realize I liked it. Set in 1987, the movie follows a nerdy post-grad kid that comes home to Pittsburgh for the summer and is stuck working at Adventureland, the local amusement park. It reminded me of an 80's version of Almost Famous or Dazed & Confused. The movie was funny, especially when Bill Hader and Kristen Wiigs' characters chimed in, but the movie flowed with mostly an understated humor. Ultimately, it's a sweet coming-of-age story about a kid that grows up more in one summer at a dead-end job than he did all four years at his respectable college.

The whole movie basically took place in Kennywood, the real Adventureland in Pittsburgh. I loved pointing out all the rides and seeing the park on the big screen. Although, just an FYI, the movie makes the park look really run down, but in reality, it's not run down at all. Kennywood has been around forever, but the film purposely doesn't show any of the new additions to the park or the modern roller coasters there. Fun Fact: I read that they decided to shoot at Kennywood instead of a list of other theme parks around the country because Kennywood isn't commercialized and they didn't have to cover up a bunch of advertisements and corporate sponsors for filming.

Growing up, Kennywood was the place to be seen. Every school district in Pittsburgh is given a "Kennywood Day," a weekday where there is no school and you're able to purchase discounted tickets to spend the day at the park. It was of utmost importance to look cute on Kennywood Day. Ohhh the shopping trips I would take and the hours I would spend perfecting my outfit to make sure I looked good in case I ran into any boys from school. All the girls basically looked like little hoochie-mamas on Kennywood Day. No dress-code policy there! haha

The characters felt very authentic and the film kept true to Pittsburgh-- the homes they showed looked like homes near my neighborhood and there were plenty of landscape shots that reminded me of home. The house parties and aimless driving over tons of yellow bridges brought back memories of high school as well. I also liked the random glimpses of Pittsburgh pride, like the guy playing the shooting gallery game with the Lambert jersey on. (Zack & Miri was really good with that, too.) Fun Fact #2: The directors for both Adventureland and Zack & Miri have personal ties to Pittsburgh. Kevin Smith (Zack & Miri) had a girlfriend from Pittsburgh and always loved the city and told himself he'd like to film there someday and Greg Mottola (Adventureland) got his undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

My advice-- go see it.

Pittsburgh being in the movies isn't new, though. Throughout the years, lots of popular movies have been filmed in my hometown. Here are a few to jog your memory of the Steel City on the Silver Screen:

- Wonder Boys

- Dogma

- Inspector Gadget

- Milk Money

- Groundhog Day

- The Silence of the Lambs

- Flashdance

- The Deer Hunter

Bring It On?

2009-04-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

Interesting debate to chew on: Is cheerleading a sport?

At the beginning of this year, the topic of high school cheerleading made it all the way to the State Supreme Court and onto the pages of ESPN online. It's actually a really interesting case...

As a cheerleader all throughout middle school, high school and beyond into college (Go Indians...Go Red Storm!), I get super pumped when cheerleading makes it into the headlines. Heck, I get excited when I come across cheerleading competitions on TV, but when regular folk and sports-talking guys are mentioning spirit fingers, I get all warm, fuzzy and proud inside.

The case: Varsity cheerleader, Brittany Noffke from Holmen High School in western Wisconsin decided to sue a male teammate who was her designated "spotter" (for you non-cheerleaders, it means exactly what you think it means), and failed to catch her when she fell backwards out of a stunt. She ended up with a serious head injury.

Seriously, cheerleading can be dangerous, y'all!

So, what do you think? Can you sue a teammate for not catching you? The question at hand for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court was if cheerleading was a contact sport or not. If they decided that yes, cheering should be lumped with football and other contact sports, high schools and teammates would not be held accountable when someone gets hurt (including Brittany's teammate). In other words, join the squad at your own risk. But, is cheerleading really at the same level as football with injuries and danger? And should there be no consequence for dropping a teammate??

In the greater sense of the question, it's hard for me to deem cheerleading a "sport." I typically only associate games as sports, i.e. an athletic event with rules and a clear winner and loser at the end. Soccer games, baseball games, etc. The main and original purpose of cheerleading is to support the players in those aforementioned games. Even when we show off our amazing abilities in competitions, there is still no clear cut winner/loser. A panel of judges grades each team on their fancy footwork and the "wow factor" of their performance.... how does that fit? In my world of sports, a team can play a dirty and messy game and still win.

But then there are the Olympics. They just throw a huge wrench in my idea of sports. Figure skating, gymnastics, diving... the winners for each are determined by judges and they are all absolutely considered sports. What is the definition of a sport anyway? Dictionary.com defines a sport as "physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively." By that definition, cheerleading qualifies for sport status. But, contact sport status?? There is no risk in the actual "leading of cheers." When a team begins engaging in stunts and gymnastics, though, it gets more serious. In fact, tons of squads across the country do not allow their cheerleaders to stunt or tumble for the specific reason that those activites are dangerous.

And voila, with that last statement, I think I have my answer.

Cheerleading that incorporates stunting and gymnastics is a contact sport, and schools and teammates cannot be held monetarily liable if someone gets hurt. The nature of the sport is dangerous and you should know that going in. Tossing people high into the air, balancing a person on human hands (at least) six feet in the air and forcefully springing your body into the air unnaturally can potentially cause injuries, just as sacking a quarterback can potentially cause injuries. And yes, if your teammate drops you, he should be reprimanded, but not in the courtroom and not to pay for your medical bills. No one forced you to cheerlead and no one forced you to be the girl in the air. We all make mistakes and injuries happen in cheerleading.

Do you agree with me? Check out the full story from ESPN Rise online.

PS - the Wisconsin Supreme Court felt the same way I did. On January 27, 2009 cheerleading was made an official contact sport, at least in the eyes of Wisconsin.

Expensive Bag Heaven

2009-03-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

Last week I met with a fashion writer from Paper Magazine and she complimented me on my Botkier (spent way too much money on it when I didn't have any) Chrystie bag.

Let me repeat: a woman who has made a career out of deciding what fashions and brands are cool enough to be written about in your favorite mags told meee that she liked my bag. Like, we literally had elevator chat about it.

Not that I blame her. My Chrystie bag is super pretty. It's made of soft black leather with a diagonal snakeskin sectional pocket on the front. Plus, it's surprisingly sturdy and huge inside.

Needless to say, my expensive purchase has now been completely validated. :)

It was my Christmas gift to myself and I did buy it from Gilt Groupe, so I didn't pay retail, thank goodness. Most of the time those "sample sale" sites just clog up my inbox and I don't allow myself to look... but sometimes you can really get some good steals.

Here are a few I like:

- Gilt Groupe

- Haute Look

- Shop It to Me

- Ideeli

Check 'em out and achieve your very own bag/shoe/designer clothing nirvana. It's no secret that it feels that much better when you get it on sale! As in, there's not near as much guilt, haha.

Sidenote: if you need an invite to any of the above sample sale sites, no worries-- leave me a comment and I'll hook you up.

Reem Acra love

2009-03-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

Now that red carpet season is over and wedding season is beginning... I want to talk dresses.

Not to sound weird, but I know the designer I want my wedding gown to be. I'm eons away from getting hitched, but I'm certainly in love with Reem Acra.

I first saw a Reem Acra dress in a random OK! Magazine last year as a dress they were predicting some celeb to get married in (Ashlee Simpson perhaps?). I was getting a pedicure and I was transfixed by how gorg this dress was. Having no pen or paper around while in a pedicure chair, I actually whipped out my cell phone and texted myself a note so I wouldn't forget the name of the designer.

The dress was strapless, and the bodice looked a tad like a Herve Leger bondage dress with slight jeweled detailing to accentuate the criss-crossing silk sections. At the waist, the "bondage" ended in a thin silk belt, and the dress flowed down to the floor in a light and airy A-line shape. B-e-a-utiful.

Months later, as award season began, I was constantly reminded why I need to purchase a Reem Acra dress for my next red carpet event (aka my wedding, because that will probably be the only "red carpet" event in my life, hahaha). It seemed like every dress I liked on the red carpet circuit was a Reem Acra: Oliva Wilde, Rumer Willis and Eva Longoria at the Golden Globes. Kate Beckinsale at the Grammys. Even Jill Biden wore Reem Acra for the Inauguration Ball.

Reem Acra dresses are just so flattering and feminine. The bodice holds everything up and perfectly contrasts with the pretty and graceful (and forgiving) A-line skirt.

So, the dress is done. Guess I just need to find the man, ha.

www.reemacra.com

Reem Acra Salon

14 E. 60th St. New York

212-308-8760

The Great Magical Wave-Maker

2009-02-22T18:10:00.001-08:00

Beach-worthy hair waves in the dead of winter... what was previously thought impossible is now quite doable with the Remington Emi Style System Dryer with Airwave attachment.

I fell in love with the idea of the Airwave attachment through Beauty Blogging Junkie, but actually decided to buy the contraption when I saw the price. At only $30(!) and full of rave reviews from all the beauty blogs, I figured it was worth a try. I needed a new blow dryer anyway.

An ionic ceramic blow dryer, the Remington Emi is good for hair and leaves a healthy shine, but in addition to being a quality blow dryer, it comes with fancy attachments! That's where the real fun lies. There are two attachments: a Concentrator attachment that helps smooth and de-frizz hair, and, the really cool one - an Airwave attachment that acts as a mini wind tunnel and corkscrews your hair while drying for a unique mermaid look.

I lovesss it! This summer, I really got into the "au naturel" look and let my hair air dry into its natural loose waves everyday. I became super accustomed to this easy hair routine and got a rude awakening when cold weather set in. I either froze trying to let my hair air dry, or was unhappy with the results when I tried to enhance my waves with a dryer. Then, voila, the Emi came into my life.

For loose, beachy waves, here is what I recommend. Comb a detangle spray/lotion through wet hair and for about 3-5 minutes, blow dry hair with or without the Concentrator attachment (less time for short or fine hair). Next, attach the Airwave and slowly feed in 1-2 inch sections of hair and run the Airwave up and down the length. After you finish half of your head, you should have a bunch of twisted, pretty dreadlocks. Spray the section lightly with aerosol hairspray and then do the same to the other side. Run your fingers through hair and loosen up and separate all the twists, then run larger chunks of hair through the Airwave until hair is just about dry. Flip your head over and give it another once-over with aerosol hairspray and you're done. Hair will be dry and have pretty, bouncy waves, too!

You gotta give this one a try. Drugstore.com

PS - it's even on sale now! Go on and shop guilt-free ;)

SIXBURGH!!

2009-02-09T13:43:00.001-08:00

Well, it's been a week since the Pittsburgh Steelers' sixth Superbowl win in Tampa, and I am just beginning to come off of my high. What a game... what a team... what an awesome way to make history and put the city of Pittsburgh on the map.

If yinz didn't know already, I grew up in Pittsburgh. I've been living here in New York for a little over six years now, but my love for the Steelers hasn't faded, in fact, it's grown. If you're ever sick of your hometown, I know the remedy.... move. It's freeing to get to know a new city, and slowly, you begin to appreciate/miss the quirky trademarks of home and develop a newfound pride in where you came from. You turn up the TV when the news mentions something about it, your ears perk up when you hear someone nearby talking about it, or in my case, you feel the need to become BFFs and buy shots for anyone wearing a Steelers jersey in the bar...

When the Steelers made it to the Superbowl three years ago, I bought an inconvenient and slightly disastrous flight home (looking at an outdated schedule and taking the PATH to Newark Airport with only 45 minutes til takeoff to miss the flight at the gate by 5 minutes... and then sitting in the airport for 6 more hours with only a freaking $8 food voucher, grrrrrr), and when the Super Steelers made it once again this year, I knew there was no place I'd rather be.

It was a perfect weekend; the city truly comes alive when our Steelers do well. I spent my Saturday afternoon in the Strip. It's the spot to get your not-so-official Steelers gear from the street vendors and your breads, meats, cheeses and chocolate from the mom and pop delis and bakeries along the way. A stop for lunch at the original Primanti's location with a line out the door and a group of crazed middle aged women decked out in Steeler gear doing cheers made the day complete.

On Sunday, I did not leave my house. The whole day was spent preparing nervously for the game. Many Iron City beers were consumed, the Superbowl spreads and dips were made and I changed three times into different Steeler shirts, unsure which was best to wear at game time. I decided on my old Bettis jersey... lucky #36. Worked for me in Superbowl XL and worked for me the past two playoff games. Everyone in the whole city was wearing Steeler apparel, even the dogs. With amazing foresight, I bought my german shepherds, Renner and Luna personalized Steeler doggie jerseys for Christmas.

What an awesome game. From the moment of kickoff, my phone was buzzing with texts from literally everyone I knew in New York. In the first 5 minutes of play, when we almost got our first touchdown, we thought we might have an easy game (ha). When James Harrison intercepted the ball and ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown at the half time mark, we were amazed, elated and pumped to power through the next half.

Halftime... the Boss delivered a great show. I'm loving this reversion to old school rock stars like last year's Tom Petty and now Bruce. I may have been born forty-some years too late.

The third quarter began and was finished before we knew it. Then came the fourth quarter and a severe blow to our confidence in the Steel Curtain. Two touchdown passes from Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald gave the Cardinals their first lead in the game by a mere three points, with only a little over two minutes left in the game. My mom and I held hands, no joke, and the house went silent.

We prayed for a miracle, and a miraculous play was exactly what we got. Ben moved the ball down the field pass by pass to the 6 yard line. After an incomplete pass to Santonio Holmes in the end zone, Ben threw again on second down to Santonio on the opposite side of the end zone. It worked. It worked!! It was a heavenly catch, a magical catch by Holmes, toes dragging in the end zone, arms outstretched and grabbing the ball out of the air. And that was it. With 35 seconds left in the game, we ripped the Cardinals brief lead away from them and took home history.

I stayed in Pittsburgh til Wednesday so I wouldn't miss the victory parade. What a show. The city was packed by 9:30am, and we started drinking 16oz. IC Lights in Primanti's by 10. The streets filled up so we took to the parking garage to get a bird's eye view. Even the top level of the garage was filled with fans. We watched each Chevy truck drive by and screamed and waved our Terrible Towels with everyone else. We saw Jeff Reed (knowing him right away by his bleached mutton chops), James Harrison with the Vince Lombardi trophy and Santonio Holmes, proudly showing off his MVP trophy. And, highlight of the day, we saw Troy Polamalu crowdsurf into the fans below us. Too raw (sorry, that's my brother's phrase). And in an interesting twist, he was wearing Uggs, hahaha.

I love, love my team. I will become a New Yorker in very other way, and I will like the Giants and love the Yankees, but I will always love my Steelers more. I have pride in Sixburgh. :)

Fresh Air, Old Memories

2009-01-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

Warning: This post may not hold any interest if you did not attend St. John's University.

Yesterday I needed fresh air, so I went for a long walk - the in 20 degree weather no less. It felt good to be numbingly cold.

I wandered through my neighborhood and around the frozen pond down the street (where do the turtles go when the pond freezes over?), over to Jamaica Estates (Starbucks/Barnes & Noble stop), and then made the return trip. I passed college friends' old apartments and remembered the fun we had in them and cut through St. John's campus and saw the changes and remembered the way it looked all those times I trudged through the snow to class. It all seems so long ago already. Specific moments flew back like a stream of consciousness.

Walking past the house on 168th Place (the atrocity next door is finally built - complete in pink sandstone and adorned with large stars, ha), I remembered sitting helpless on the stoop one morning after I'd lost my cell phone and my dignity and needed to apologize, but couldn't wake anyone up to answer the door for me (What was I thinking? What college kid would be up at 9:30am on a Saturday??). And then the time I locked my keys in my car and we made a mad dash on the bike (complete with me on the pegs... hilarious in hindsight), whizzing past high school kids on 164th St. at 8 in the morning to find the spare keys in my apartment before alternate side parking came into effect at 8:30 (oh the guilt of making you race around with me to find them...I felt ridiculous standing on those pegs, and heavy, haha, you shouldn't stand on pegs past age 9). At least we made it in time!

Now on Homelawn, I walked past another group of friends' house and thought of that awesome summer post-college, right after you guys moved in there and none of us realized life was going to change that much after we got degrees (kind of a bummer that it actually did).

As I approached campus, I remembered the moment I first set foot on campus (Is this what college is supposed to feel like? Is this the right school for me? Will I fit in...be homesick?). Oh and now the Great Lawn... ultimate frisbee on those sunny days and our ill-fated bake sale (that included some delicious melted chocolate pudding pie and lots of help from friends). Passing the church, I remembered when it was first built, and RCIA classes, and racing back every Tuesday/Thursday afterwards for lunch with everyone at Montgoris. Remember when the St. Vincent Stairs didn't exist?? Now that was ridiculous (...cutting through 2 or 3 buildings just to get to the other side of campus... no sense). Good ol' Montgoris - group dinners, morning-after brunches, stealing lunch trays for sled riding (and eating the same meal, the only one I could stomach, everyday... deli sandwich and cucumbers with ranch dressing). Oh man, and then I saw Donovan Hall. I looked up and saw all of our bedroom windows... the smoker's rock outside is gone now (God, I wish I was a freshman again). Oh and that back fence that we'd hop to cut the corner on the way to Traditions... lots of cuts, ripped jeans and bumps from doing that every week, ha.

Leaving campus, I remembered that dumpster/cafeteria stench and the air conditioner "rain" by Gate 6 (now that's actually just really disgusting, haha), and waiting on the curb for cabs to Bogarts or - gag - DNA, hahaha. That scary ROTC building with the barbed wire is now the Public Safety office (sans barbed wire, thank god). Ohhhh those mundane nights of scanning IDs for Public Safety to make minimum wage. Sgt. Anna! She scared me and looked so tough. Always thought she was a lesbian, but learned later she was preggers, so who knows.

Then, I found myself en route to Traditions... We never wore appropriate outerwear, thinking it took away from our "hot" outfits for the bar. Therefore, we froze our butts off during the walk and would borderline run and pretend we weren't cold. "It's summer and we're wearing bikinis!!" "It's so warm - all I'm wearing are shorts... and a top hat!" Haha, don't ask. There were so many walks (and stumbles) to and from that bar.

Funny how "fresh air" can bring back so many old thoughts and memories. And that was only one side of Union Turnpike. If I had gone to the other side, I would've passed two more old apartments and tripled the memories.

I guess it was a nostalgic day.

Rules for Saying Goodbye

2009-01-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

So, I've taken a brief hiatus from blogging. I could say it was because of the holidays, but that's not really true. I think that I've just been a bit uninspired. After all the excitement and new experiences in France, I came back to New York to sit in my apartment, search for a new job all day, and a few nights a week, walk downstairs to work at the same bar... with the same customers... that I've been working at since I was a Junior in college. Sigh. It's been kind of boring around here.

But... the upside to having a lot of free time is that I've been reading a lot. Latest read: Rules for Saying Goodbye, by Katherine Taylor. It was recommended to me by a friend who said the protagonist reminded her of me. I read it and decided that in many ways, I agree. That's both a good and bad thing.

"We worried about holding on to our rent-controlled apartments even though the hot water worked only occasionally and the doormen stole our packages and the landlords constantly tried to evict us. We worried about how all the crying would give us wrinkles and we worried about the price of cigarettes we would have sent up from the grocer downstairs. We worried about explosions on the subway and whether or not our insignificant boyfriends were alive when they failed to phone. We worried about taxi accidents and making enough tips to cover the weekend's activities and we worried that we drank too much or that our careers would never speed up, at least never as fast as everyone else's careers seemed to go. We worried that we had the wrong friends, or not enough friends, friends with not enough money or too much obvious money; we worried about who we knew and who they knew..."

The book follows Katherine Taylor as a pre-teen who ships off to a well-to-do New England boarding school, and then on to her college life and ten or so post-graduate years of living in New York as a bartender, with brief stints (and boyfriends) in Brussels, London and Rome. Split into four parts according to four major life changes, all including a "break-up" of sorts, I related most to her mid-twenties-self, a voice that was a tad selfish and superficial but very confused and exasperated all at once. Basically, take a look at the excerpt above. I get that. I'm there. And I think a lot of us are right now.

Another reason my friend thought of me for this book is because, obviously, I am a bartender. It was my method of paying rent throughout college and my fallback money-maker while the economy is tough and I'm stuck doing the never-ending job search. This book follows almost too well the instability that comes with the turf of being a bartender. It's fun, but definitely not always fun. The money is amazing, but occasionally you barely make ends meet. People tell you that you're gorgeous all the time, but it's not the people you want to hear it from. You have all of your days free, but can't seem to get out of bed at reasonable hours or do anything productive with them. I think you get my point.

Another reason to read this book: although it centers around a coming-of-age woman and her hook-ups and break-ups and ups and downs of life in New York ... it is not a Sex & the City wannabe. Sex & the City is wonderful, but should be saved for only Sex & the City. Katherine Taylor has a different way of writing about these events of life. This novel sways in and out of periods of her life like a running memory. It's full of sarcasm, understated humor and at times, a bit sad. Making up for the depressing moments are sharp one-liners and an uplifting ending.

I leave you with a few of my fav lines from the novel. Enjoy.

"'I have got to get out of there' is the most famous refrain of bar employees, but no one ever gets out of a well-paying bar, no matter how underworld the whole situation may be."

"He used the phrase 'make love.' ...I have never known a girl who could stomach the phrase. It's a mystery to all of the women I know how it remains in the language, when simple natural selection should have removed it."

(speaking about a neighbor who constantly threatens her)

"... but in New York, giving up a rent-controlled apartment to save your life is as ridiculous as living in Queens." (ha! ouch... poor Queens, we always get a bad rep)

(speaking to his mother, who really does mean well)

"My brother has told her, 'People like us do not get up before eleven a.m.'"

"Unemployed people?"

"Bartenders, Mother."

Rules for Saying Goodbye available on Amazon.com

Fall '08... Vampire Fever

2008-11-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

I returned from France to a vampire-obsessed country. Then I decided to join it.

After hearing good things about HBO's series, True Blood, I decided to download the first episode of the season (albeit almost 3 months late) and check it out. Instant addiction.

I managed to watch the next ten episodes within a span of 4 days (to get ready for tonight's season finale). And when I finished watching the next-to-last episode on Friday, I couldn't wait until tonight's finale... so I ran to B&N and bought the first of the Sookie Stackhouse novels (the novel set the series is based on), Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris to hold me over. Finished it in a day. Whew.

I don't know what's come over me, but I cannot get enough of vampire Bill Compton! I don't know the last time I've been like this about a TV show. Wait, maybe I do.... May 2007, Heroes season 1, ha, but this is different.

This quickie vamp obsession is probably helped in part by the fact that I do not currently have a day job.... but man, do I love this show. I love the intense attraction and deep love between Sookie and Bill, I love Bill's charming ways, I love the witty dialogue, I love the allusion to real life issues in this fantasy world, and I love the quirky cast of characters.

In case you haven't caught the bug yet, here's a brief little synopsis...

Two years ago, vampires officially "came out of the coffin" and now wish to be accepted into society, due to a new Japanese synthetic blood drink on the market (meaning they no longer must kill for their blood fix). In the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, the townspeople haven't quite accepted the idea of vampires in society when Bill Compton (played by Stephen Moyer) arrives. A vampire from the 1800's, his family originates from Bon Temps, and he is hoping to "mainstream" and live amongst the townspeople once again.

Cue in Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a waitress in her mid-twenties and the only truly open (and somewhat naive) person to accept Bill. She has no qualms about an outsider since she is one herself... ever since she was a girl, she's had the "gift" of reading people's every thought, making it difficult to fit in and especially difficult to date. With Bill, she can relax and be herself. Yet as she grows closer to Bill (very, very close... wink wink), the danger around her increases. The small town of Bon Temps witnesses more murders than it ever has and the prejudices of the townspeople try to break them apart...

Throw in her extremely hot (yet very dumb) brother Jason, who has made his way through every hot girl in town (not too bad to see...hahaha) and gets hooked on the designer drug of the day, V (vampire blood), her "watchdog" of a boss Sam, her outspoken and wise-cracking best friend Tara, Tara's flamboyantly fabulous burger-flipping cousin Lafayette, a set of vampires with perfect deadpan humor, and a cast of crazy Southern good ol' boys and you have yourself a show. Trusttt me, you need to watch it if you haven't started yet.

Season 1 ended tonight and sadly it will not return until Summer 2009. I may make it through all eight Sookie Stackhouse novels by then, but hopefully I can hold out for the show....sighhh. I miss Bill already, haha.

Now, I haven't read any of the Twilight series nor have I seen the movie, so I have no real way to compare, but from what I've heard others mention, it seems in some ways, Twilight is the PG-13 version of True Blood. Both are love stories between a human and a vampire (yet both stories have other plot twists and turns), but after all the intensity, blood, drugs and well, sex in True Blood, I don't think Twilight would interest or hold any mystique for me anymore. Thoughts? If you've seen and/or read both vamp series, comment and tell me the similarities and differences. I'm really curious! And if you just loveee Twilight... tell me why it's so great (other than Robert Pattinson, I can tell he's great myself, hahaha).

www.hbo.com/trueblood/

Big love for True Blood - great article from msnbc.com today about True Blood

France Finale

2008-10-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

I knew I was ready to go home the day my suitcase broke.

I was moving to a different apartment in Paris for the umpteenth time and basically dying as I tried to lug all my shit (pardon my French) down the street when all of a sudden, my suitcase felt very awkward. I stopped to check everything out and realized that the long handle used to drag the suitcase on wheels had bent and snapped under all the weight and was now dangling by a thread. Fab. Just fabulous.

My plan of taking two buses over to the new apartment I was staying in for my last 3 days being thwarted, I hailed the next cab I saw and overpaid just to get to the apartment in one piece and without killing someone. That was when I realized I was sick of living like a nomad. As much as I loved being in France, shuttling all my belongings from city to city and apartment to hotel to apartment was wearing on me. I was done and it was time to go home (plus, the money was wearing thin).

That being said, I enjoyed my last week to the fullest. Meaning I spent every last dime that I owned. I went to Laduree and waited on a line far too long for its own good for delicioussss, expensive macaroons, went out to eat as much as humanly possible, and as a grand finale, spent 400 euro on amazing French vintage dresses.

Before this trip, the idea of vintage clothes intrigued me, but I didn't really know where to look or how to go about the whole shebang. Then, this summer, on an unexpected plane ride to Florida sans reading material, I came across an article about Ooh La La Vintage in the US Airways magazine stuffed in my seat back pocket. A private vintage boutique based out of Paris, the article mentioned that I could arrange for a personal lesson on vintage, learn the styles that would flatter my body type and then try out all sorts of pieces from their collection. Sounded like a winner to me. I earmarked the page, stole the magazine and held onto it until I arrived in France.

Ooh La La Vintage was amazing. The owner, Tara met me right outside of Paris at the RER metro station and led me back to the boutique. We spent the afternoon chatting and as she filled me in on the history of fashion and the keys to a good vintage piece, I got to play dress up! It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon in my opinion. She even made us lunch!

I happen to be made perfectly for vintage clothes- I'm petite, and women back in the day tended to be built very small, so everything was in my size for once! I also have an hourglass figure - a small waist countered by some good ol' baby-bearing hips - meaning I fit nicely into those awesome 50's dresses. After she told me this, I knew it was going to be dangerous, haha.

Tara was so helpful: she wanted to see everything I tried on and gave honest judgement on the fit and style. There was absolutely no pressure to buy... but of course I fell in love with everything and just had to have it! I walked out five hours later with my first five pieces of vintage: a dark 50's button-down tartan dress, a cream crochet curve-hugging dress from the 70's, a 60's Cacharel plaid A-line high-waisted skirt, a tweed vest from the 30's and finally, a olive green leather cinching belt with awesome detailing from the 80's.

I left France a happy (yet broke), overpacked lady.

Finding History in Honfleur

2008-10-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

My trip to Honfleur was my "voyage a la source."

My great-grandmother, Andree Charlotte LeBlanc was born in Honfleur - a cute, little marina town in Northern France, and visiting was my chance to see where she came from, and understand a bit more of my past than I had before. It was my chance to put on my sleuthing shoes and fulfill my childhood dream of being a part of the Ghostwriter team (you know you loved it, too). Well, not that serious, but I was on a bit of a wild goose chase for answers: What was her childhood in France like? What street did she live on? Do we have any relatives left here? Why did her family move to the U.S.?

It was harder than I imagined to get to Honfleur without a car. After five different buses/metros/trains, I finally arrived in Trouville... not even Honfleur. Apparently, Honfleur doesn't have a train station, so I had to stay in the next town over. It turned out better than expected - Trouville is a really adorable beach town with old Victorian beach houses, old-fashioned changing rooms right on the water, and plenty of good restaurants and inexpensive hotels (in the off season at least). During the summer, Trouville and Deauville (another neighboring town) are two of the most popular weekend getaways for Parisians because they are only two hours from the city.

In the morning, I was able to jog on the beach right near my hotel, and then catch the local bus to Honfleur for only about 1.50 euro. I came armed with an address, a name and a date. The address: 36 Rue Lingots. An Henri LeBlanc (we think he was maybe a cousin of my great-grandma) wrote her numerous postcards after she moved to the U.S. from this address. The name: Laurent LeBlanc, the only LeBlanc I could find in the White Pages of Honfleur. The date: 1898, the year my great-grandma was born.

Honfleur was smaller than I thought. I started my day by searching for the address. I easily found it... right near L'Eglise de Ste. Catherine, a church famous in Honfleur for being the only all-wooden Catholic Church. It was a home-wares store on the first floor with a set of apartments upstairs. Really cool to imagine someone sitting at one of those windows nearly 80 years ago and writing postcards that I still hold onto today...

Next, I headed over to the Hotel de Ville (town hall) to see about finding any information about my great-grandmother through the old town documents. But, alas, the Hotel de Ville was closed daily from 12:30-2:30pm for lunch. Yes, in France, they close things for lunch and on Sundays. Hard for an American to get used to... So I set out to explore the town for awhile and find lunch. I poked around all the different shops and tiny, little roads and took plenty of pictures of the Vieux Bassin, the dock famous for all the Impressionist and Watercolor painters that have loved it over the years. I found a restaurant serving Moules a la Normandie (mussels in cream sauce) and broke for lunch. I treated myself to a Pommeau aperatif, an apple-based liquor popular in the Normandie region, and a Tarte Tartin (upside-down apple tarte) for dessert. Why not? As my trip was nearing an end, I no longer feared eating by myself and I was all about eating as much yummy French food as possible before I couldn't anymore (that may be why I feel a little extra pudge in my stomach area that wasn't there before, hmm).

Trying the Hotel de Ville again, I faced the typical French attitude... at first, they basically told me it was impossible for them to search for anything on her because I didn't know enough background info. But, as I had learned to do during my stay, I kept inquiring, and a nice woman finally directed me to the Town Archives. At the archives, they found her birth certificate from 1898 as well as the marriage certificate of her parents from 1896 within five minutes. It was so exciting to see all these incredibly old documents that led to my past! The marriage certificate explained that on the day of their marriage, my great-great grandmother's father had been missing without any news for 17 years... interesting. The birth certificate listed the road my great-grandma's family lived on, so I was then able to find the street she grew up on until moving to the U.S. when she was four years old. So much history in one day!

My final stop of the day was Laurent LeBlanc's address. Who knows... maybe we were cousins?! It turns out Laurent LeBlanc was an artist (a good one, too!) and the address I found was his gallery. I stopped in to chat with him when there were no customers around, and unfortunately, we were not related. His family grew up in another French town, so it looks like the Honfleur LeBlancs of my family have died out or married. Damn. But, I did make a friend. We talked for awhile and he showed me all his work, and then he offered to drive me back to Trouville in an hour, since I had missed the last bus back. Sweet deal.

I finished my Honfleur day by painting a small tableau sitting on the edge of the Vieux Bassin, just like all the artists around me and all the artists of days before, and then hitched my ride back to the hotel. Some mysteries solved, but other questions about my family history had just begun.

La Drome - Living the French Country Life

2008-10-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

I've been traveling about a month and a half now (and mostly by myself) and I just realized something -- I think I might be proud of myself. What I'm doing here (while lots of fun) is not easy. With the help of a good friend back in New York, I've met up with different people in Paris and found places to stay. I've gone multiple times to French travel agencies and (in French) figured out travel itineraries, rail passes and how to get around in this foreign country. With no definite "plan" before I left, I organized myself here and decided where I wanted to visit each day/week and when necessary, searched online and found hostels/hotels, etc... I might just be a good traveler!

As I write this, I'm leaving the Drome, one of my favorite areas of France. I visited this area - a tiny village outside of Valence called Ste. Croix - once before, 3 years ago during a summer study abroad trip with St. John's University and fell in love. Beautiful mountains, cute little towns, open markets, Clairette de Die (a bubbly and delicious wine specific to the area), horses, roosters, sheep... it's a simple and real way of living here.

I think I like it so much because it's such a different way of living than I'm used to. It's a sort of departure from my life -- I stay in a plain bedroom in a monastery built in the 11th century, eat delicious French meals until I think I'm going to pop, go on hikes, picnics, and horseback riding, speak only in French and have very little contact with the outside world.

But then again, this whole trip has been a departure from my life. I don't have to think about jobs, growing up, friends lost, boyfriends, or what I'm doing with my life. I can just be.

Sadly, this once-in-a-lifetime trip will be ending all too soon, and I will have to think about all of the above again, and make some very big girl decisions. But for 3 days, I was a French country girl, galloping through the mountains on a horse named Shepes without a care in the world...

Adventures in Amsterdam

2008-10-12T15:05:00.000-07:00

Staying on a boat sounded much more glamorous than it was, haha.

When we arrived at Centraal Station in Amsterdam, it was rush hour and we had to fight through the crowds to find the "botel." But once we found the dock, there were over 20 boats! I guess that makes sense for a city of canals, but it was confusing for us American girls.

The gruff Dutchman that owned the boat showed us the way to our cabin (calling it a cabin is a stretch) -- and lucky for us, the way included a set of the steepest, skinniest stairs I've ever seen. Once inside the "cabin," there wasn't even enough standing room for the two of us and our bags, haha. My friend couldn't stretch her wingspan across the room without touching both walls and I couldn't sit up on the bottom bunk without bumping my head. It was interesting to say the least!

We headed out for food and exploration and stopped at the first pizzeria we saw. Bad idea. It was the worst pizza I've ever tasted. And the guy microwaved it!! That is such a no-no when it comes to pizza. We're from New York for Christ's sake! That's not to say Amsterdam doesn't have good pizza. I'm sure they do... just not where we went.

Left to our own devices without tour guides like the California guys in Munich, we set off walking and hoped to run into something fun. We found our way to the edge of the Red Light District and found a long row of coffee shops, bars and a quite interesting store called The Condomerie. Plenty of people were out and about and we were curious about the whole coffee shop experience, but our prude American nature made us hesitant to walk in. How does it work?...Is there a certain coffee shop etiquette?? Finally, we pushed our reservations aside and tried out Coffee Shop Sheeba.

Sheeba was great. The middle-aged man behind the marijuana and hash counter showed us the menu, chatted with us and joked around. We made our purchases and headed back to the boat. 3/4 of the way back, we made the brilliant realization that we lost our lighter somewhere in Munich. Damn. Amsterdam is an early city - all the stores are closed by 6 or 7pm and the bars and coffee shops close at 1am. We were stuck. Then came Funky.

Funky was a Jamaican reggaeman (and possibly homeless) that was wandering and dancing to his own beat on the dock near the boats. We went up to him, asked him for a light for a cigarette, he lit it and asked where we were staying and tried to chat... we responded far far away and scampered back to the deck to smoke our legal goods before he saw us. We then came to the conclusion that though illegal, it just might be easier to smoke in America.

We sat on the dock together, looked at the beautiful city of canals at night and smoked. A nice Dutch guy from the boat next door and his dog, Dolly came to join us. After a few struggles, it was a perfect end to our first night in Amsterdam. Then, the rain came and we had to head inside to our cubicle.

A few things to note about Amsterdam:

- A trip to Amsterdam is probably best during the summertime. Surrounded by many canals and situated in the North, it was windy, freezing cold and raining during our whole stay in late September. Plus in the summer, there are tulips!

- Go out early because most of the bars and coffee shops shut down around 1am.

- The Van Gogh Museum has an amazing collection of his work, but for some reason, it's more expensive than any other museum I've visited in Europe, and they don't offer a discount for people under 26 years old. (costs around 12.50 Euro)

- The Anne Frank Haus is a must-see. We've all read the book and it was both moving and sad to see the actual place where her family hid as she wrote her diary.

- Amsterdam has great shopping. If you're looking for funky trinkets and souvenirs for family and friends, there are tons of gift shops on every block. And if you're looking for a great piece of Euro fashion to take home, there are a bunch of cool boutiques and shops like Sacha, where I found my new favorite boots.

PROST! Oktoberfest in Munich

2008-10-08T00:59:00.000-07:00

I left Munich with war wounds and a massive hangover, and I loved it.

Before this trip to the biggest beer festival in the world, I had never been to Germany or met many German people... but if Oktoberfest is any indication, I loveee them both.

My friend and I arrived in Munich after midnight on a Thursday and exhausted from the train, we assumed we'd go to bed early and get a good start the next morning... hahaha, not so much. We had rented an apartment through Craig's List Munich (best idea ever - thanks Mel!) that was just 5 minutes walking distance from the fairgrounds and when we got inside, we met the 4 guys from Cali staying in the room next door. Instant friends. That's the thing about traveling -- you make instant friends wherever you go because frankly, you don't have anyone else! We went straight to the local bar and quickly got our first taste of Oktoberfest. The place was crawling with leiderhosen-clad men and Bavarian-dressed ladies already tanked from drinking all day. They were jolly, loud and so much fun. We didn't go to bed until probably 5am, and as soon as we got up the next day, we started all over again.

The guys showed us the best beer tents (don't be deceived -- the beer tents are huge, completely enclosed barn-type buildings) and we drank steins, danced on tables and rode the carnival rides (interesting when drunk...) all day. We thought we were drinking well into the night, but as we later learned, it was probably 9pm when we left the festival grounds, ha. But we didn't stop there... the pub we went to the first night became "our pub" for the week, and we made a point to go back every night post-Oktoberfest. It was my "Traditions" in Germany :) and the beer maids knew us by the last night.

My memories may be a little dim thanks to the strong Bavarian brews, but I know I had a good time... there are pictures to prove it!

Thought of the Day

2008-10-07T07:13:00.000-07:00

A French boy told me the other day that he knew he was fluent in English the day he began dreaming in English.

I wonder if I'll ever dream in French...

Euro Beauty and Fashion Finds

2008-10-07T05:02:00.000-07:00

Can I just be European already? Euro girls always look so fashionable and put together. I love their nonchalant, au natural yet still looks perfect long hair, and even their short cropped coifs that only the likes of Vicky B and Anna from the O.C. (2003/2004 reference) can pull off without looking like a boy, butch, or both. No matter how cute I thinkkk I look, I always feel frumpy around French girls.

So in my travels and attempts to gain a European sense of style, I've figured out a few things along the way...

French pharmacies are cute... shops with blinking neon green crosses dotting each corner with every product imaginable for complete health, beauty and well-being. The pharmacies carry expensive French beauty brands, holistic heath products, and in addition, they sell medicines over the counter that in the States we need prescriptions for (score!). One cool product I picked up is a citrus scented shampoo/shower gel combo by Rene Furterer Paris. Why don't more companies make products like that? It's so convenient! This one is called Initia, Gel douche tonique cheveux & corps. It's soap-free, smells fresh and lemony, and since I'm a multi-tasking traveler, I'm able to use it as my shampoo, body wash anddd shaving cream. Not bad for a 12 euro set of two bottles.

Paris has their fair share of H&M's and stores we have in the U.S., but while poking around in St-Germain-des-Pres, I found a French shopping chain that I absolutely looove. It's called Sinequanone. It's far above the price level of an H&M, but not terribly expensive, and their clothes are tailored, hang nice and make use of interesting patterns. In my opinion, the clothes there are perfect for the twenty-something set just getting into the working world. I bought myself a high waisted cream silk skirt with splashes of navy and black cropped and tapered leg pants with a bow tie high waist. Both will be perfect work attire (even though I don't currently have a job when I return, haha). Also, side tidbit: I had no idea how to even pronounce the store name let alone know it's meaning, but I recently found out that "sinequanone" is a French term that means ideal. If you ever want to look smart and savvy you can say, "C'est une situation sinequanone." Like if you decided months in advance that you wanted to run a race and you practiced regularly, for you, the race will be "une situation sinequanone." It's the best case scenario.

This last one is going to give a little credit to the Dutch: For high, flat Fall leather boots, Sacha is awesome. Everywhere I went in Amsterdam, women were wearing flat leather boots to die for in every shade of brown, black and the rest of the rainbow. They all looked so...warm. Unfortunately, during my trip to Amsterdam, it was freezing, rainy and windy, so I was super jeal of the boots I was seeing everywhere until I was window shopping and came across Sacha. The store was closed at the time, but my boots were glowing in the window. Love. at. first. sight. They were smooth green leather, flat heel, rounded toe and almost knee length. I ran back to the store the next day to try them on and it was a done deal. They're wide enough to slip over my jeans perfectly, but still look great with a simple dress and tights or leggings and a sweater, and the shade of green goes with (almost) anything. I've worn them every day since I bought them, no joke. And Amsterdam had a great selection of boots and plenty of shoe stores, but one thing to note is that a lot of them were extraordinarily expensive. Sacha wasn't cheap by any means, but I was okay with paying 109 euro for these puppies.

So, that sums up my spectacular beauty/fashion finds from the past month or so in Europe ;).

Things I've seen a lot here are leather bomber jackets, scarves for every occasion, boots boots and more boots, and a lot of cream, violet and navy shades. What's the fashion scene like back home now?? I feel so out of touch...

French Lesson of the Day

2008-09-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

Ohhh the mistakes we make when speaking in a foreign language.

Last night I got together with a new friend in Paris that I had emailed earlier this week. He was a lot of fun and we had a great time. We met at the Centre Pompidou for drinks on the top floor at the outdoor lounge and then went to dinner at Chez Chartier, a well-known Parisian cafe where they write your order on the tablecloth...reminded me of The Italian Oven (but French-style). Anyone else remember that place? It was like, my favvvv restaurant when I was 9 years old.

He knows how to speak English, and I know how to speak French, so it was a good match and we switched back and forth all night between the two languages. Once we were a few drinks deep and comfortable with one another, he explained to me that the email I originally sent him was a little innneresting. See, at the end of the email, after explaining who I was (a good friend of his friend) and that I would be in Paris from such-and-such dates, I said the following sentence: "J'ai pensee que nous nous rencontrons pour un cafe ou aller au restaurant/lounge, etc. quelque apres-midi ou nuit bientot." Loosely translated to mean, I was hoping we could get together for a coffee or drinks/dinner one afternoon or night soon.

The problem is that in English, the words "evening" and "night" are basically interchangeable, but in French, "soiree" (evening) means one thing, and "nuit" (night) means something very different, haha. In other words I sounded like a dime store hooker!!

I'm so glad I sent basically the same email to all of my friend's friends in Paris (sarcasm). Just fab. I'm like the foreign exchange student in Can't Hardly Wait... "Would you like to touch my penis? I am a sex machine!"... no idea that I was saying something bad.

Ohhh, you live in a foreign country and you learn. :)

TOPLESS! and other independent French woman things...

2008-09-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

Ahhh Nice, how I love you. Nice (pronounced like "niece" for all you uncultured folk out there, ha), is in the south of France along the Mediterranean Ocean and one of the main cities of la Cote d'Azur, or the French Riviera... meaning it's gorgeousssss. And, Nice happens to be near the Italy border, so throughout the town, and especially in Vieux Nice (the old quarter), both French and Italian are spoken, and the food is a yummy mix of French and Italian influence (my two favorite kinds!).

I hopped on a train in rainy and chilly Paris (not without many lines, questions and struggles to figure out the best travel deal for my time in France and Europe), and arrived five hours later in paradise.

I became independent in Nice. I bought a single train ticket and booked hostel arrangements one day before, hopped on a TGV train, and went to a city I had never visited without knowing a soul in town.

I did things I had never done before... I ate my first meal out at a restaurant by myself, which has previously kind of terrified me. I don't like walking into bars by myself, even to meet up with people, let alone sit through a 3 course meal alone. I think deep down I feel like everyone is looking at me thinking, "Oh look at her, she's a loser that can't find anyone to have dinner with," when in reality I just need to realize that people don't care that much about my life, haha. I see French women sitting by themselves at cafes all the time, so I decided to embrace the moment and be French. I brought a book along, ordered from the prix fixe 3 course menu, relaxed and ate a great Nicoise meal. It was... quiet. Quiet but pleasant, and not nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be.

Speaking of being French, I went topless, too! ;) It took me a day and a half to work up the courage, but I decided to be free on my last day at the beach and whipped my top off to give the "girls" a little Mediterranean sun, too. Too bad it was windy and a little cloudy... I ended up leaving the beach only maybe 20 minutes or a half hour later. But I still did it!!

Nice was also my first hostel experience. Not so bad. I stayed at Hotel Baccarat: a 5 minute walk from the train station, and about a 15-20 minute walk through town to the beach. It was a plain room with 3 bunk beds and a small bathroom, and kind of reminded me of college freshman dorms. And I even made friends! Our last night, the group of guys and girls in our room went out to the bars together and I ended up swimming fully clothed in the ocean in the middle of the night. Nothing like a good exit! Our lovely bar night also ensured that the train ride back to Paris the next morning felt fantastic... complete with salty hair and a hangover.

I love summer, the beach, being young, and traveling... do I really have to go home at some point and find a job again? What a downer, haha.

The One Week (and then some) Update:

2008-09-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

What I learned (in short) from my first week in Paris:

The architecture in Paris is prettier than most American cities hands down...probably because most of it has been around longer than our country. It's hard getting along in your second language, but rewarding when you realize you can get along. In some ways, big cities are all alike in that they like to make your life difficult. French creepy men just don't get the hint. The kindness of strangers is a-maz-ing.

So, I've been out of the country for about a week...a little longer. For the most part, I've stayed with a friend of a friend in Paris. It was great because I avoided the touristy hotels and got the grand tour from a girl that has lived in Paris for years. So what did I do?

Well, I poked around and got lost for the most part, haha. But, that's okay. That's why I plan to be here for almost two months.

My first day, I walked around and followed the shadow of the Eiffel Tower until I found it.

The second day, I passed out due to jet lag. One day lost; whatever.

The third day, I went running around the Champ de Mars (the park surrounding the Eiffel Tower), visited the Musee D'Orsay (finally!!) and saw the Sacre Coeur and Montmartre by night.

During the weekend, I relaxed, walked around the markets, le Marche aux Puces (flea market!) and the Catacombes. The Catacombes were eerie to say the least. It was actually my third attempt to see the Catacombes, but I was very pleased to finally see them. See, the first time I attempted the Catacombes was Summer 2005, when I did the summer study abroad program through good ol' SJU. I took the Metro to the site only to realize they were closed on the day of the Fete de la Musique, a city-wide music festival every summer in Paris. My second attempt, just one day before I actually made it (last week), I left too late and they capped the line before I could get to the gate at 4pm. I was disappointed, but I made it the next day in plenty of time. And, though it was super-touristy, I was to >thisclose< to femurs and skulls from the 18th century, and that's pretty damn cool.

And now? Now, I'm in Nice, on the French Riviera, and loving every moment. I leave tomorrow morning, but I wish I could stay here longer, and I wish it could be summer forever. Updates are soon to come :).

I have arrived!

2008-09-04T01:01:00.000-07:00

Bonjour mes amis!

I made it to France(!), but not without a few bumps along the way of course. Traveling is never as easy as you'd like it to be.

I left my apartment in Queens on September 2nd at 1pm, and finally arrived at the apartment in Paris at 12 noon on September 3rd. Whew it was a long trek.

First leg of the journey was getting to Newark airport from Queens while hungover, fun times. My friend was nice enough to drive me and thank godd we didn't hit traffic. Once by myself at the airport, my nerves fully kicked in, so I paced around a lot before finally deciding to take the plunge and go through airport security (no turning back now!).

My flight was with Lufthansa (a good airline, I recommend it) and I had a quick layover in Dusseldorf, Germany. Of course, as I'm beginning to realize every flight out of New York is, we were delayed on the runway for like, forever (number 19 to take off, ughhhhh), so as soon as I got off the flight in Germany, I had to book it to the next gate for my Paris flight, which was already boarding. So, obvi, since I was in a rush, the customs line took forever and they decided to inspect my bag. But, I made it in time and even had a seat in the emergency exit aisle (extra leg room, woo!).

Once at CDG, the airport in Paris, I had arranged for Paris Shuttle to pick me up and drop me off at the apartment. In theory, it's really simple. You set everything up before you leave online (www.parishuttle.com), and once you get off your flight, you call their toll free number from a pay phone in the airport and they tell you the meeting place for your van. They pick up up to 6 people at a time and drop everyone off at their hotel and/or apartment. In reality, it didn't work out so easily for me. First, I couldn't find a pay phone and I was afraid they would leave without me. Ha! Once I got outside at the meeting point, 3 different van drivers passed up myself and a few other travelers claiming they were full and we didn't have reservations. I waited about an hour before a van was able to take me. Then, of course, I was the next to last to be dropped off, so I got to circle around Paris 4 times through traffic before arriving.

Then, oh then, there are the lovely quirks of old apartment buildings. The friend of a friend that I'm staying with was already at work when I got here, so I was left to my own devices to get into her place. I had difficulties opening the old door, which was embarrassing since the Paris Shuttle van decided to hover until I got in. Once in, I had six flights of stairs to master with my 48 lb. suitcase, haha! Somehow I made it to her floor, although I realized around the 3rd level that the railing was very shaky and I should absolutely not lean on it with my weight as I pulled my luggage unless I wanted to end up splattered below. And the last obstacle...her front door. It almost got the best of me. Tired, frustrated and absolutely exhausted, I could not get the door to open to save my life. I had the key...but the door wasn't budging. I didn't know what to do. Tears started welling...

I worked up the nerve to knock on a neighbor's door one floor down, only to be barked at in French by some crotchety old woman to leave her alone. I retreated to the entree of the building (left the luggage upstairs, though...no wayyy I was doing that climb again) and hoped for someone to walk in that could help. A different neighbor offered me her cell phone and I was able to call my friend and get some advice on the door, and voila, it opened instantly of course.

So needless to say, traveling can be a lot of fun, but it is not always roses. But, what can I say? I'm now here in Paris enjoying my life :)

The apartment I'm staying in is right near the Eiffel Tower, so I plan to go on a bit of a jog soon around the Champ de Mars, the park surrounding the Eiffel Tower. I actually got dressed and tried to head out about a 1/2 hour ago, but the main apartment door gave me trouble again, and I gave up for now, hahaha. I really need to get a handle on these French doors, they are proving to be quite the contender.

I'll write more soon, hopefully once I've conquered the doors. Ciao!

The Dreaded Packing List

2008-08-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

Yikes-- time is flying and I leave for France exactly one week from today. Major bout of anxiety and minor freak-out have begun...

Packing is going to be rough. By nature, I am not a light packer. But from the experience of my last trip to France, I know that I do NOT want to be lugging around an insanely heavy suitcase through the streets and into TGV train cars. So, I am going to be a responsible traveler and do a "dry run" so-to-speak of my luggage tomorrow and see what fits and what is completely unnecessary. Someone may need to help me with this...I grow attached to all my shoes and outfits and think of every "what if" situation that might cause me to need ridiculous items.

Here is the packing list. Drum roll please...

Clothes, clothes and more clothes:

- Nike Shox for the daily run I hope to take

- black leggings, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 tees, Under Armour (running gear)

- hot pink Converse sneakers

- one pair of cute sandals, one pair of flip flops

- black suede booties

- brown wedge sandals that can easily go from summer to fall

- 10 pairs of socks ( who knows when I'll get to do laundry)

- gray and black tissue thin cardigans to throw over t-shirts or dresses as the weather gets colder

- red and white stripe lightweight sweater

- black skinny jeans, denim skinny jeans, wide leg jeans

- air brush Madonna tee

- white v-neck tee

- "vintage" (aka Goodwill) purple transit authority tee

- cream eyelet blouse

- red v-neck blouse

- gray braided edge tee

- gray/back silk tunic

- American Apparel gray, cream and black tanks

- 2 dressier tanks

- 2 long sleeve tops

- 3 dresses and/or skirts

- cutoff jean shorts

- thick tights

- black yoga pants

- pretty scarves!

- brown skinny belt, black thick belt

- white double-breasted crop jacket

- all the "unmentionables"

- Wallaroo straw hat to shadeeee me from the sun in style

- simple string bikini for those European beaches...should I even bring a top? ha

Pour la Toilette:

- my super cute, incredibly tiny TS-2 Detailer flat iron

- Biolage Scalptherapie Oil Control Treatment (dry shampoo)

- wide tooth comb

- Cor silver soap big bar...best travel face wash everr because it lasts forever, it's solid (not liquid) and I don't need any other products

- razor

- travel-size deodorant and toothpaste

- toothbrush

-Bath & Body Works self-meditating body butter

- nail file and clippers

- make-up bag (condensed version)

- turquoise earrings from Mexico, thin silver hoops, small interlocking gold hoops

- gold cuff bracelet, silver dream bracelet, back-up nose ring, cross necklace

- small case of bobby pins and hair twisties

Gear:

- Wellness H2O water bottle to filter out any funky tap water I come across (Man this would have been helpful last year on Spring Break in Mexico...)

- umbrella

- Sephora Microfiber Hair Towel, regular towel

- tryptophan herbal pills to adjust to the time difference and sleep better

- Macbook, charger, protective sleeve

- digital camera, batteries, camera cord

- travel pillow

- oversized zip tote bag for weekend trips and backpacking

- zebra print beach bag/messenger bag for everyday wear

- address book for all my V.I.P.s that will be receiving post cards

- small journal

- Plan de Paris

- i-pod, obvi

- cream clutch

- oil paints and canvas notebook

Wheww. Is that too much? I guess tomorrow will tell. Do I need gloves and a warm hat during mid-October in France?? Hmm...

Also, I need to buy plug converters and maybe those "As Seen On TV" vacuum bags (depending on how stuffed my suitcase looks). I plan to buy shampoo, soap, etc. once I arrive in Paris from one of the many pharmacies that dot the streets. I figure that will make a littleeee more room in my bag (though not much), avoid accidental leaks in my luggage, and allow me to buy cute French toiletries!

Am I missing anything else? Thoughts??

Freedom.

2008-08-14T21:23:00.000-07:00

Well ladies and gents, I did it.

After about six months of thinking and debating...I bought a non-refundable roundtrip ticket to Paris for a two month solo trip and quit my job in PR. Eeek! I don't normally do daring things like this!!

Yesterday was my last day on the job and after a celebration to remember with all of my wonderful co-workers, I woke up this morning, grabbed a huuge iced coffee and hit the open road to Pittsburgh for family time before shipping out to France.

The road trip was exactly what I needed to sort my thoughts. What is it about open windows, loud music and interstates that makes it so freeing? During my seven glorious hours in the car (glorious=sarcasm...seven hours cooped up in a car without cruise control is never quite glorious), I sung, I cried, I used the steering wheel as my own personal drum set, I yelled, I daydreamed, and I tried to comprehend all that is currently happening in my life.

I basically pretended I was the only car on the road-- I bet those cars driving near me on the PA turnpike got quite the entertaining show, ha. The level that I rocked out to Kanye, Lucky Boys Confusion, Danity Kane, Jay Z, Fall Out Boy and Dave Matthews Band normally does not come out unless I'm drunk at a karaoke bar. And yes, I realize that is quiteee the variety of music; don't judge.

I don't know about any of you out there...but I'm kind of over this "transitional," early twenties phase of life. It's so confusing and so many things are changing. That simple, fun and protective shell of college is gone, people are coming and going in and out of your life, and I swear the thoughts in my head are completely spastic. One minute I want one thing, the next I want something else. And really, at this age, we can do whatever it is that we want to do, but most of us are just so utterly indecisive that no one can figure it out. I know my life will unfold as it should, but could the Big Guy just give me a little heads up and point me in the right direction, or lend a clue of what the future holds? It would be much appreciated.

What's funny is, I bet when I'm 40 and hunkered down with a family and a never-ending job (...because maybe that's how I'll be when I'm 40?), I'll look back and miss these exciting times when I could go out 3 nights a week and survive, and quit my job and hop to France on a whim. Such is life.

But, oh my god...I really can't believe I'm really going to France for practically two months by myself. Ahhhhhh it's going to be great. I'm feeling excited but scared shitless, adventurous but very nervous.

The countdown is on. I leave September 2nd...18 days to prep. More is definitely to come.

american girl's Summer Concert Tour

2008-08-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

This american girl was one lucky lady this summer. I saw four of the biggest concerts to hit New York over the past 3 months:

Read 'em and weep:

5/13/08 - Kanye West, Glow in the Dark Tour (round 1)

6/17/08 - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

7/18/08 - Billy Joel, Last Play at Shea (the real last play)

7/31/08 - Counting Crows and Maroon 5

Here's the skinny on all the awesome concerts you missed this summer, ha.

Kanye - His show really kicked ass, as previously mentioned. It was pure entertainment and a high energy, rock opera-ish show with the craziest stage set up I've ever seen. Rihanna, N.E.R.D. and Lupe were a great match for Kanye and put on awesome sets as well. In my book, he lived up to his promotion of the tour and I'll go see him again anytime.

Tom Petty - Don't let his age or his previous, um, habits fool you. His voice sounded amazinggg and just as it must've in the '70's/80's when my parents loved him (and therefore I loved him by association). He really rocked out and played all of my favorites, closing with none other than "American Girl!!" Love him!

PS - My uncle also told me he saw Tom Petty in the early '80's and it was the best show he ever went to...clearly things haven't changed, so if he comes to your town soon, you should get yourself to his concert.

Billy Joel - As soon as I heard he was coming to Shea, I knew I wanted tickets. I grew up listening to this guy, the River of Dreams album especially (a favorite of my mom's). Little did I know it would be the history-making and INSANELY AMAZING performance that it was. A 3 hour + set list including all the classics (You May Be Right, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Only the Good Die Young, We Didn't Start the Fire...shall I go on??) combined with all-star guests Steven Tyler, Tony Bennett, Garth Brooks, and Roger Daltrey blew me away. When Paul McCartney joined him on stage at midnight, I lost it. Lost it!! I got to hear "Let it Be" live from an actual Beatle...that's not supposed to happen to someone in my generation. It was magical to say the least. This is a girl whose favorite movie at age 3 was The Yellow Submarine cartoon and loved to listen to her uncle read The Fat Budgie poem by John Lennon. So, needless to say, this was the concert of the summer. Look for it on DVD in the coming months if you missed it! :)

Counting Crows/Maroon 5 - It's all about the venue, and the Jones Beach Amphitheater was the best venue I've been to so far this summer. The stage basically looks like it's floating in the water. Con - it's a national park, so no alcohol is served there, but it's still all open air, which is sort of key to a summer concert. I went into this concert psyched to see the Counting Crows and happy a good band like Maroon 5 would be there with them...I left the concert affirmed that Maroon 5 was an awesome band, and disappointed in the Counting Crows, mostly Adam Duritz. He forgot the words to one of his songs...not a good start. Only playing a few of their major hits was pretty dumb, too in my book. I've heard from others that the Counting Crows are iffy live-- sometimes great, sometimes not-so-good. Looks like I got one of the not-so-good shows. Sadness. At least Maroon 5 was great; I really loveee their latest CD and Adam Levine isn't so bad to look at either, ha.

To sum up, I basically blew all of my money on concerts this summer, but I saw some amazing performances by many of my all-time favs...and hearing live music and being with friends really is a great way to spend your summer. Worth every penny!

Maine: Rethink Your Idea of a Beach

2008-07-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

I'm a Florida native, so I was born with high standards for beaches and coastline.

So, when I recently spent a week in Belfast, Maine, I was skeptical of what exactly this northern beach town would be like.

So, you ask, what was it like?

Foggy mornings, a sea full of ships, sunny, bright afternoons and lots and lotssss of seafood.

I was pleasantly surprised. Maine was exactly what I needed. It was a vacation where I actually - gasp - relaxed.

We went sailing or kayaking in the mornings, napped in the hammocks, took the monsters (my family's two german shepherds) for walks along the water, laid out in the afternoon and read, and ventured into town in the evenings for dinners at Darby's, movies at the kitschy cinema, or community concerts and gallery openings.

The beach was veryyyy different from what I'm used to. No sandy white beaches here! It was rocky, jagged and a bit slippery from all the seaweed and moss, making those "long sunset walks on the beach" more challenging. Though I appreciated the challenge-- it became a sort of sport for me to hike from solid rock to solid rock without slipping and breaking myself.

Adding to the challenge was the fact that at certain points during the day (aka High Tide), we had no beach! Early in the week I had found a sweet spot to perch my beach lounger each afternoon and then one day, as I coerced my brother to be my cabana boy and carry the chair down to the shore for me, realized that there was no "beach" for me to go to. The steps lead right into the lapping water. Eh, the cute little yard worked out just as well for afternoon reading and sunbathing.

The good, the bad and the ugly of Belfast and Maine in general:

- I could do without the Crocs. Everyone wears them...in every color. Why? Why do you do it to yourselves? Can someone explain this phenomenon to me?

- Lobster rolls are delicious, yet sort of over-hyped and overpriced. I waited on line for over an hour at Red's, the famous lobster hut, in the hot baking sun for one of their renowned lobster rolls. Was it really over a whole lobster's worth of meat (as they claim) on a roll and absolutely amazing? Yes. Was it worth my profuse sweating and the grouchy, frustrated attitude I acquired while waiting? I'm still deciding.

- No matter how "green" New York thinks we are, New England is better. Everyone is so concerned and attentive about the environment. Belfast is home to a Co-op organic and local grocery store that sells raw milk and other interesting finds. BTW, I have no idea how raw milk is made or why it's raw. I wanted to try it but chickened out/forgot.

They also have a shop aptly named, The Green Store. They sell everything and anything green. My mom forgot her toothbrush and seeing as there was no standard pharmacy right in town, she brought a "green" toothbrush there. Who knew they made those??

- I've found that most beach towns up and down the Atlantic Coast have a sleepy sort of attitude, and not much goes on (excluding the prime party beaches of course, like Belmar). Belfast was an exception. There were things going on every day and night in this little town. Bike races, Art Walks, movie premieres, concerts...those Maine folks know how to enjoy a summer. Then again, it's probably because their poor winter lasts for like six months of the year...nooo thank you.

In the end, I think one of the things I appreciated most about Belfast was that it was genuine. You could feel the community vibe pulsing throughout the town, and the locals appreciate tourists but don't thrive on them. Multiple shop owners and people about town would strike up conversations with us, and each time the same point came up: Belfast, unlike Camden (their larger and more touristy neighbor), does not have a direct exit off of the interstate. Meaning there are no huge signs and arrows pointing the herds to town as in Camden. You can still appreciate the true town in Belfast without the tourism/marketing/phony pop-up ventures that only serve to stereotype destinations and overcharge unknowing visitors.

As much as I'd like to see the world, it's also important to see your own country. I'm really glad I got to experience Maine...next on the U.S. tour list for me should be Arizona, California and all those other states that look the same in the middle. Kiddinggg.

The Strangers

2008-06-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

The Strangers = hard not to pee your pants, must squint and barely open one eye to watch, afraid to be home alone for the next week, sleep with the lights and TV on, scary.

I actually saw The Strangers opening weekend, on June 2nd, but I have been mentally dealing with it since and unable to write until now, haha.

The plot is simple enough. A couple (well played by Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) retreats back to the family's house in the woods after a fight only to be terrorized and brutally tortured by a group of masked strangers that takeover their house.

I think the horror actually lies in the simplicity. This could happen. There were no elaborate special effects, and the movie didn't have much dialogue. But, the fact remains that these two were victims from the start.

The movie sets it up for you and shows the ending first. The audience knowsss the outcome, making it that much more difficult to watch the movie play out. The masked strangers play a senseless and sadistic game of cat and mouse, and caught off guard in the middle of nowhere, the couple is literally helpless.

The silly and superficial reason it scared me so much?

Those freaking masks!!! The blank faces of a potato sack mask, a dollface, and a pin-up girl will haunt your dreams, no kidding. And if this movie really does well in its theater run, I'll bet money that the potato sack mask will be a popular lazy Halloween costume for the next few years (I mean the Scream mask was hot for a good 5 years. Hell I even saw people last year still rocking it.).

The deeper, philosophical (yes, I really did use the word, "philosophical" for a horror movie review) reason it scared me so much?

This was just one more indication that if people are really twisted enough in the head, it's really simple to plan an act and victimize people. It happened in the school shootings at Columbine and Virginia Tech. It happened on 9/11. It happens everyday when people plot and break into people's homes and places of business. Scary. That is why I couldn't go home alone after the movie and had to sit with my friend and watch hours of SATC to eradicate bad thoughts floating through my head.

This movie did its job. It scared the living daylights out of me. I'd even venture to say that this was the best horror movie I've seen in a long time.

I always know I've found a good movie if I'm still pondering it days afterward... The Strangers was on my mind for about a week. I've heard that the movie was inspired in part by the Charles Manson murders...another creepy twist.

Anyone know anything about how the Manson murders connect to the story? The CSI, Criminal Minds, and SVU-lover in me would love to hear.

www.thestrangers.net

Traditions Pub

2008-06-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

Traditions, where everybody knows your name.

I'm actually surprised I haven't written about this place yet. Traditions is the most well-known St. John's college bar, and as you might expect, I spent the majority of my formative college years there. But, this bar is more than a typical college bar to me.

To me, this bar means family.

Shadows of my past - of who I was when I arrived at school from Pittsburgh to who I have become now - lurk in every corner of Traditions. I grew up there. Ohhhh if those walls could talk.

During drunken silly nights, we made fools of ourselves in that bar and somehow still liked one another enough (hungover) the next day to become friends for a lifetime.

On that crowded upstairs dance floor, I first kissed the boy that would become my boyfriend for the next 4 years. Granted, it may have been a drunken mini make-out session (overshare? I mean you know it happens all the time), but it never-the-less began a relationship that changed my life.

My junior year of college I began bartending at Traditions to afford my off-campus apartment, and the bar become even more like my second home. The manager, Raj took myself and my friends under his wing, so to speak, and made sure that every weekend we had the sloppy, foolish, college "time of our lives." And it was.

See, this place is more than your average bar. Raj just may be the best host I've ever met, and no matter whether you're a college kid or a regular from the neighborhood, you'll get to know him, the owner PJ and our crew of bartenders.

Birthday parties, dart leagues, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas parties (aka Raj-mas!), graduation parties - we do it all for our patrons. Loyalty is sort of what keeps this place alive.

Stop by sometime and check us out. We're a friendly bunch... except on those packed weekends during the college school year. Then we might just throw you a drink and move it along. Hey, I never said we were perfect. If it's busy, you're on your own to find friends. ;)

In summation, who needs Cheers when you can have Traditions?

Traditions Pub

84-28 164th St.

Jamaica, NY 11432

718-297-3516

Austin's Steak and Ale House

2008-06-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, you need a good steak. And sometimes your local Outback just won't cut it.

Now that's not to trash Outback-- I'm a big fan. It's that when your mouth is watering for meattt, you're not always in the mood for the long lines, standard menus and cheesy waiter lines that come with the territory of a popular chain steakhouse.

In those situations, it's good to have a local steakhouse, and I've found mine.

Austin's Steak and Ale House, located in Kew Gardens on well-known Austin Street has a tasty menu that covers all ground on America fare: seafood, salads, soups, poultry, pastas, burgers, and of course steak (and lots of it).

In addition, their nightly specials add an extra twist of flair to the menu, and the Filet Mignon and Jumbo Scrimp special I had was delish. As was my friend's Horseradish-crusted Salmon special that I was lucky enough to acquire the leftovers of.

The decor is classic and tasteful -- it feels very homey in a good way. Good time, good friends, good steak. No big complaints here.

PROS:

- near the Long Island Railroad station

- nice menu variation

- good specials

- extensive beer menu and drink list

CONS:

- mediocre waiter (he may have been new...hopefully)

- a surcharge or 2 that didn't make sense

- not all beers listed on the menu were available

Next time the wait at Outback is 45 minutes even with your "call ahead," try Austin Steak and Ale House for a nice and juicy steak.

Austin Steak and Ale House

82-70 Austin St.

Kew Gardens, NY 11415

718-849-3939

www.austinsteakandalehouse.com

Burnt and Burnt Out...Long Beach

2008-05-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

Summer is officially here. Whew, I'm beat. I took a beating from the sun and got very little sleep this weekend in Long Beach, Long Island and I loved every minute of it.

Long Beach is a fun little beach town in Nassau County of Long Island just about a 20 minute drive (or LIRR trip) from my area of Queens. It's a cute little town that's nothing like the city...yet it's still just a short commute, and the people there (young and old) love a good time.

Two examples:

1. One night we headed out to Saloon, and were drinking within a mixed crowd of folks in their mid-twenties and some in their mid-fifties. I'll admit, as part of the mid-twenties grouping, those fifty-something party animals provided a dose of humor for the night, but hey, when I'm around that age, I still want to have places to go out with my friends and have a good time!

2. As we walked back to our car after a weekend of sun and a little too much fun, an old couple sitting on their porch laughed at us and asked if we had a good night last night. What kind of old folks say that?? haha

There's an active boardwalk full of bikers, joggers and walkers, plenty of little coffee shops and restaurants, and even a town parade on Memorial Day. On the other hand, there's a long strip of bars made for bar-hopping and, this is key, they are all within walking distance from the houses... perfection in my book!

Summer is a celebration in Long Beach, as it should be. There were constant barbeques to attend, the beach was always lively (but not too packed), and the West End where I stayed had a college-anything goes-laid back vibe. The houses in the West End are typically small bungalows stacked close together and parking can be difficult, but the bonus lies in their community feel and close proximity to the beach. Everyone sits out on their porches and chats with neighbors on nice afternoons, and the beach is literally only a block or 2 blocks away.

Things to note when heading to Long Beach:

- You will need to get a beach pass from a kiosk on the boardwalk to head to the beach for the day (or bum one from a resident in the area with a summer-long beach pass).

- Parking can be tight on the West End near the "state streets" (Indiana Ave., Louisiana St., etc.).

- Breakfast (or lunch or dinner) is cheap and good at the West End Coffee Shop at W. Beech and Georgia Ave. On busy weekends, expect a bit of a crowd in this cute small town diner.

516-432-7147

1042 W. Beech St.

Long Beach, NY 11561

- Bring your volleyball! Lots of people set up nets on the beach and love joiners interested in a game.

- Saloon at Indiana Ave. and W. Beech St. is a fun bar with a mixed crowd of young and old. They often times have live music or karaoke.

516-432-9185

1016 W. Beech St.

Long Beach, NY 11561

-Ever wished you could do the Pleasantville-small town stereotype of riding a dainty bike with a basket and a bell? Now's your chance. The boardwalk is long and the small alley streets are free from traffic making Long Beach a biker's paradise.

- Minnesota's Restaurant & Tavern at Minnesota Ave. and W. Beech St. is known to have the youngest crowd in Long Beach. I found it to be a really good time (but then again, I'm only 23!).

www.minnesotasny.com

959 W. Beech St.

Long Beach, NY 11561

I've only been to Long Beach three times, but I hope to go a lot more this summer. Anyone else have other places to recommend in the area?

Mr. West lands at the Garden

2008-05-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

Kanye West. Rihanna. N.E.R.D. Lupe Fiasco. MSG. Stunna' shades. Glow in the Dark.

Yes, I was there, and it was A-MAZ-ING. Jealous? You should be.

Last night, on May 13, 2008, Kanye West's much anticipated Glow in the Dark Tour took over midtown. By 6:30pm, the bars surrounding Penn Station were crammed with eager concert-goers sporting "Stronger" glasses and neon clothing. By 8:30, they had packed out every tier of Madison Square Garden and were jumping to the sounds of N.E.R.D.

The concert lasted a little over 4 hours, but the flow of the concert was so fast paced, time flew. Arriving close to 8:30pm, I was amazed to realize I had already missed Lupe Fiasco. All I'm going to say is...I really like Lupe and was not very happy to learn I had missed his performance.

Turns out, in his true diva-like fashion, the 3 headlining acts were only to perform 1/2 hour sets to leave more time for Kanye. And, you know what? That's fine with me. Kanye, you are an amazing performer, you put on a great show, and I love you for all your "modest" ways, haha.

N.E.R.D. really got the crowd pumped up...I loved the designated "rockers" on stage, and Pharell busted out some fun dance moves (kind of like a cool Carlton dance). They played their current single, "Everybody Nose" and older hit, "She Wants to Move" among others.

Rihanna had a great set. The stage had jagged neon-lighted levels, and she first appeared in a black dress with a tulle skirt large enough to comfortably house multiple people. She eventually rid of the heavy skirt and donned skin tight black leather leggings with a Madonna-esque (Read: cone boobs) red patent leather jacket. I gotta hand it to her-- I would not look good in that. Every song she played was great, although a friend pointed out that she did not sing "Shut Up and Drive." I guess you can't fit 'em all in when you're only on stage for about a 1/2 hour. Chris Brown also made an guest appearance for the "Cinderella" remix of "Umbrella." All together now, 1, 2, 3 awwwwww.

Kanye was a-maz-ing, as previously stated. His nearly 2 hour, uninterrupted set was a rock opera (or rap opera?) of sorts. The plot: His space ship crashed landed on a planet with no creativity. Oh no! As the set went on, he kept chatting with his robot spaceship, Jane and attempted to sing more and more powerful songs to bring creativity and boost the power of the spaceship to get back to Earth. He opened with "Good Morning," worked through songs from all 3 albums and closed with "Homecoming."

Here's my sum-up.

Disappointments:

- Missing Lupe.

- Not playing "The Glory." I don't know if anyone else likes this song, but it's my fav from the new album. I was really hoping he'd play it...it's my ringtone and all!

- I didn't glow. The concert was called the "Glow in the Dark Tour." We all wore bright and white clothes, and bought the white stunna' shades at the concert so we could glow properly. I expected black lights or something all through the Garden, or something to that effect. So, tell me Mr. West, why didn't we glow?

My fav moments:

- "Hey Mama." This song was a wonderful song before the tragic death of his mother earlier this year, and obviously now it means that much more to him. Great song, great voice, just beautiful.

- "Jesus Walks." Always been a favorite song of mine...it's just such a powerful and awesome-sounding chant. It was very cool hearing it live. It merited the obligatory phone call held out toward the stage to my brother who was (not very happy) sitting at home in Pittsburgh.

- "Stronger." Obvi.

- "Gold-digger." Almost 2 and 1/2 years later, this song is still so much fun. I loves me some hilarious gold-digging bitches!

Sooo glad I was there. This was a concert not to be missed. Want more details on what you missed? Check out this article on Billboard.com.

One Year Later

2008-05-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

Over this weekend one year ago, I was graduating college. (Cue in major bout of depression)

So what has changed? Well, just about everything. A lot of my friends have moved back home and I've fallen into the routine rut of the working world, but I have real money and I don't need to "study" anymore.

Congratulations to the class of 2008. I know in some ways, you can't wait to get out of school, and it feels good to be done with classes and papers and lectures, but trust me, appreciate every last second of college life. Over this next year, I promise you will wish on multiple occasions that you could run back to the dorms and do it all over again.

Here are my thoughts on what to expect during the next year:

Things can still be fun, but they will never be the same.

Whether you stay in the area of your school, or move back to your hometown or elsewhere, you will not see your friends near as often...even if you live only a few blocks away. That said, when you do get together, it is just like old times (in a good way).

Even the slacker friends that barely rolled out of bed to get to class will find a job and clean up their act (on the weekdays at least!) It's amazing what a suit does.

You will compare every major celebration to how it was the last 4 years...and 9 times out of 10, it will not live up to how it was then.

You will suffer through applications (if you're going to grad school), or resumes and the dreaded job search that everyone warned you about, and it will be more time-consuming than you ever thought possible. But, eventually, if you keep working at it, you will succeed. I promise.

You will live for the weekend. In college, you lived for the weekend, too...but really, if you wanted to go out on a Wednesday and skip class the next day, you could. Now you will live for the weekend so you can sleep in...also so you can go out to the bars, but c'mon, I don't think that will change for awhile.

You will slowly stop wanting to go to the cheap college bar you lived at 4 nights a week, and desire to go to new and cooler places. You will also realize it is possible to go out with less than 10 people, and that the world will not end if you stay in on a Saturday night.

You will have real money! It will not be near as much as you dreamed your starting salary would be when you were in school, but hey, it's something. Please don't blow it all. It's hard, trustttt me, but save part of every paycheck. (This only applies to those of you looking for a job. If you're going to grad school, sorry. You'll still be poor. That's what you get for still semi-living the college life.)

You will probably have a mini life crisis. RE: What am I doing with my life?? Why did I major in that? How do I find a job? Where did my fun life go?? Someone tell me what to do please! Take it one day at a time, and life will unravel in front of your eyes. You don't need to know everything at age 22. Live and enjoy being young. You will make mistakes, but you have plenty of time to make up for them. We're young; that's what we're supposed to do.

I hope I've imparted a little wisdom. It's definitely an adjustment to leave the safe and simple community of college, but you will make it in the real world. Sometimes, you miss the good old days, but keep in mind that there are still plenty of good memories to make. Life is what you make of it; enjoy your days.

A Little Love for Queens

2008-05-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Sometimes, you do things that make you appreciate where you are, and remember why you choose to live there.

This weekend I visited Flushing Meadows Corona Park for the annual Cinco de Mayo festival. Flushing Meadows is the largest park in Queens, and 1.5 times the size of Central Park. The park is well known due to its proximity to Shea Stadium and the World Tennis Center as well as its famous structures: the Unisphere that stands as a symbol of Queens and the ancient towers leftover from the World's Fair that we all know as an "alien launch pad" in Men In Black.

Ironically enough, this park is right in my backyard...about a 10 minute drive away (yes I drive, one of the perks of being in the outer boroughs!), yet I had never been there until yesterday.

The Cinco fest was so much fun! It was a beautiful day, a beautiful park, and so many families were out. Little kids were whizzing by on skateboards and bikes, men were playing cricket and soccer, and even some pot-bellied old Mexicans were getting in on volleyball games. Spanish was definitely the first language for most of the people around us.

As we got nearer to the actual festival, foreign ballads lofted over from the concert stage, and the food stands came into view. Yummmm. We sampled as much as possible -- arepas (sweet cornmeal pancakes filled with mozzarella), chicken empanadas (one of my favorite Spanish foods) and tamales (steam cooked corn dough stuffed with peppers wrapped in corn husks). We tried on sombreros and pretended to fit in, and it was a grand ol' time.

It's times like this that make me really step back and appreciate the borough I've made my home in. Queens is the most diverse community in the country. That's something to be proud of. Living in a place like this, there is such a great opportunity to try and appreciate, if not understand, the cultures surrounding you.

A smattering of the cultures in the borough I call home:

Chinese - Flushing, Queens is a miniature version of Chinatown in Manhattan. When traveling down Main Street, the signs suddenly change to Chinese characters only...kind of difficult when trying to find a particular restaurant. I tried a "hot pot" meal for the first time in Flushing a few months ago, and it was so interesting. You order everything raw...chicken, shrimp, beef, blood (eeek, who knew people wanted to eat that?!). It comes to the table in heaping plates, and you sit around the table and cook your food over a communal "hot pot" of sauce. Personal party rooms hooked up with karoke add to the vibe.

Hot Pot City

40-33 Main St.

Flushing, NY 11354

718-886-3266

Disciples of Sri Chinmoy - A large group of around 300 devout European followers of Bengali guru Sri Chinmoy call my neck of Jamaica home. They shun drinking and honor extreme athletics and discipline for the guru, once called by the Wall Street Journal, "the stunt man of the spiritual world." Each year, the disciples run the longest foot race in the world. Called the Self-Transcendence Race, each participant runs 3,100 miles...long enough to cross the country and then some...yet the race course is a single city block. They loop around my neighborhood from 6am to midnight everyday for nearly 2 months, logging at least 57 miles per day in a goal to move beyond themselves and do the near impossible through meditation. Amazing to see.

loop around Thomas A. Edison Vocational Technical High School

165-65 84th Ave.

Jamaica, NY 11432

June 15- August 5, 2008

Japanese - I had never eaten sushi until college. I had never eaten Thai food before college either. Kyoto has both, and their lunch special can't be beat. The intimate seating and decor are very calming and zen, and I can always find something unique and tasty to try here, no matter what kind of appetite I have.

Kyoto

153-11 Union Turnpike

Flushing, NY 11367

718-380-7777

Jewish - Jamaica Estates and Fresh Meadows both have large communities of Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish families. In fact, the Jewish community center near my apartment was supposedly featured once on The Nanny. You know..."the flashy girl from Flushing, the Nanny named Fran..." The neighborhoods in J.E. and F.M. are immaculate. It's quiet, the streets are tree-lined, and everyone goes for strolls. I love walking through the neighborhoods and checking out the beautiful old homes. Cunningham Park, a large park in the area, is my fav for summer jogs, picnics, frisbee and having catches.

Cunningham Park

Union Turnpike near the intersection of Francis Lewis Blvd.

Fresh Meadows, NY 11366

Czech - The last remaining original beer garden of the city is located in Astoria. Called the Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden, this beer lover's paradise is a piece of NYC history. Try out the thick and delicious Eastern European brews, and try the Czech food specialities. The beer garden is the place to be all summer...get there early or don't expect a seat in the large picnic-table filled outdoor oasis.

Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden

29-19 24th Ave.

Astoria, NY 11102

718-274-9278

Baby's First Expensive Bag

2008-05-01T22:37:00.000-07:00

I did it. I bought my first expensive bag. (thank you New York tax return!)

It's a Kooba Lola, and it's beautiful.

I've always been very interested in fashion, but never really able to afford (or bring myself to pay the incredible sums) for the brands I like, especially when it comes to handbags. But, after a year of debating and mulling over brands and styles, I finally decided to buy a Kooba.

Maybe for some, Kooba bags are inexpensive, but for the Pittsburgh native, just of of college, underpaid career woman that I am, they are pricey, and definitely not an everyday purchase.

I consider Kooba an in-between luxury brand: more expensive than Coach, yet less expensive than say, Chloe (dream brand that I hope someday to afford...ahhh wishful thinking). And, to tell you the truth, I'm not always about the labels; I don't really like Coach handbags. They seem too prim and proper for me. Kooba's bags, on the other hand, are slouchy, soft leather with excellent detailing, and just my style.

I may be hooked now. I sort of want another Kooba bag...the Harper. Hmm....maybe if I get this supposed tax rebate, I'll go for it. This could get dangerous.

I'm debuting the Lola tomorrow, and I'm pumped. During my commute, my F train neighbors will be so jealous of me nodding off clutching my beautious cream tote. And maybe, just maybe, I'll feel like a true, respectable and fashionable New Yorker as I strut to work in Soho.

Gossip Girl is kind of, very addicting.

2008-04-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

Umm...so I love Gossip Girl. Not originally, however. I admit, I was a convert.

As a loyal fan of The O.C. (rest in peace), I wasn't really into the idea of a show that seemed like the sequel set on the East Coast (such as this article seemed to be saying on People.com last October).

But, I stand corrected. I caught up on the first half of the season over the writer's strike, and I love it. It's not a sequel in any way shape or form, but there definitely are similarities and parallels between my beloved O.C. and my new crush, Gossip Girl.

Dan, for instance (played by Penn Badgley), I see as a blend of "Ryan" and "Seth." He seems to be the focal point of the show, as we see the culture of the U.E.S. kings and queens through his outsider (read: Brooklyn) eyes, and that screams Ryan to me. Yet, he has always been at this school, never fit in, and pined for the most popular girl at school, Serena (Blake Lively) for years while she had no idea who he was, and at last she realizes how wonderful and perfect the dorky kid can be (hello...Seth and Summer, without a doubt).

But, on Gossip Girl, the cattiness is full blown, and I can't get enough. These girls are entitled...this is not "new money" Newport Beach anymore. These are WASP trust fund babies with extravagant lifestyles you must be born into. On The O.C., we saw the guys fight often, but on Gossip Girl, the ladies have the upper hand. They are cunning and manipulative, and even little Jenny Humphrey is learning!

There is one thing I miss from my transition to Gossip Girl from The O.C., though-- Seth Cohen's humor. Gossip Girl is all about the dramz, but the side dish of self-depreciating sarcasm is left out. Seth was my favorite character on The O.C., and I've yet to find a character I like as much as I liked him. Bring on the laughs, even a little. Does that say something about our culture on the East Coast? Are we more uptight and less funny than our Western counterparts? Or maybe I just like Adam Brody a little too much...hmm.

For more "conspiracy theories" and analysis of the show, New York Magazine wrote an excellent article in last week's issue. The writers bring up some very interesting points: how the show is changing the way this generation watches television, how life imitates art imitates life through the cast and their on-screen personas, and why it's the greatest teen drama ever (better than 90210?! haha). It's a good read, and I definitely recommend checking it out : The Genius of Gossip Girl.

Besides how addicting the show is, I think everyone in New York is just happy to have another show focused in and around New York City. Not since Sex & the City has the city's backdrop mattered so much to the plot and feel of a show. Though their lifestyles are far far from my own, I still feel a sense of pride, community and understanding when I see places on the show that I pass everyday, and stereotypes portrayed that I know all too well here.

All in all, it's a great show. And if you're one of the 5 people out there not watching yet, you should start tuning in.

Gossip Girl

Monday nights

9pm, CW

Press 195

2008-04-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

Spring is here and the weather is finallyyy getting warm-- time to eat outdoors!

Between barbeques and al fresco dining, I love this time of year. A restaurant I can't wait to hit up is Press 195 on Bell Blvd. Named the "Sandwich Kings of Brooklyn" by the Food Network, this trendy little panini and sandwich shack recently opened an outpost in Queens on restaurant row, Bell Blvd.

A slim little storefront squeezed in between restaurants, bars and clothing shops, you might have trouble finding Press 195, but it's definitely worth a trip inside. An extensive menu of every imaginable sandwich made with the freshest ingredients combined with yummy white or red sangria and unique beer selections make this a standout year round in my book, but the backyard garden makes this place irresistible once the sun arrives for Spring and Summer.

Everything on the menu at Press 195 has a unique touch. The maple pesto spread uses maple syrup from Ashland Farms in Prattsville, NY and their honey jalapeno sauce is made with honey from Traphagen's Honey Farm in Hunter, NY. I love their use of local produce and I feel I can taste the freshness.

Start off with either the Asparagus Appetizer or the Hummus Plate...both are delicious. The former is a slightly sweet plate of the grilled asparagus, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella in a maple pesto sauce. The latter, a heaping plate of black bean hummus, grilled portobello mushrooms, roasted red peppers, calamata olives and spicy bread rounds for dipping. The only appetizer I've had here that disappointed was the Veggie Salsa-- it tasted just like any other store bought salsa, and there wasn't nearly enough given with the chips.

As for the sandwiches, there so many to choose from-- it all depends on what you like. There are 30 numbered hot pressed sandwich varieties, ranging from grilled vegetable and goat cheese variations to meaty prosciutta and sliced steak combos. Most sandwiches are served on ciabatta bread with yummy spreads and sauces...fruit chutneys, garlic and olive spreads, homemade horseradish sauces, etc. Every time I go, deciding on a sandwich takes forever because everything sounds so tasty! The last time I was there, I had the #14: grilled zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper with fresh spinach and roasted garlic and black olive spread. I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Though they are known as a sandwich shop, they have many other choices including fresh soups and salads. They also offer pick-your-filling stromboli style pizzas, and knish sandwiches, with toppings pressed between two potato knishes. I haven't tried either, but they do sound intriguing.

Imagine sitting in their backyard garden at a picnic table eating all this deliciousness...it's the perfect way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Press 195

40-11 Bell Blvd. (1 block from the LIRR station)

718-281-1950

www.press195.com

French Beauty, Oo La La

2008-04-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned how much I adore all things French? Well, I do...French major in college, love French food and fashion, and dream of heading back to Paris. Along with that comes a love and admiration for French beauty products.

Two of my fav Frenchie brands are L'Occitane en Provence and Institut Esthederm. One hails from the countryside of Provence, the latter, the haute skincare labs of Paris. Here are a couple of their products I can't do without:

Lavender Vinegar, L'Occitane - this little tin bottle packs a powerful punch when it comes to pimples. Dab it on over trouble spots, and let the natural properties of lavender dry out and heal the area. Love it! $14 www.loccitane.com

Cellular Water Gel, Institut Esthederm - This cooling moisturizer has the texture of pudding, and feels amazing going on. It's super hydrating, and I have the softest, smoothest skin when I use it. $58 www.spacenk.com

Green Tea Solid Perfume, L'Occitane - Solid perfume is ingenious. It's perfect to keep in your bag for touch-ups during the day, and great for traveling and getting through airport security. Not only is it convenient, the scent is beautiful...light, airy and a bit watery. $9 www.loccitane.com

These beauty products are my little way of feeling French each and every day. :)

I should work for Lucky...

2008-04-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

As I was reading my favorite mag, Lucky this month, I realized on page 103, "Yo! I own those shoes!!"

Is that not the bestttt feeling in the world?! Lucky is my fashion and shopping magazine of choice, and when I see a type of clothing in there that I've already been sporting (been there, wore that), I feel so good inside. It makes me totally reassured in my fashion sense. Says inside head: "Yes, I am on the mark when it comes to style, and I'm even spotting the trends before the magazine, haha!"

It may be in my advantage that I don't have a 6 month lead time, but I like to ignore that fact and give myself more credit. :)

This time, not only am I excited that I already own and have been wearing around these adorable wedges (when the weather permits)...but they only cost me $20 at Target!! Yes, a pair of hot wedges featured in Lucky came from Target.

Who says fashion has to cost an arm and a leg?

'70's fabulous Xhilaration Tonia Wedges with wooden heel cut-out, celery green - $19.99 in stores, $17.99 on www.target.com.

Erno Laszlo and the "Splashing" technique

2008-04-08T21:17:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time, during my college days, I coulda shoulda woulda interned at the Erno Laszlo U.S. office in Soho.

Erno Laszlo is a skincare company with a history. Dr. Erno Laszlo was a renowned Hungarian dermatologist and over 75 years ago, he created the world's first dermatological skincare line. During World War II, he came to America and opened his flagship center on Fifth Ave., the Erno Laszlo Institute, where he treated the rich, glamorous, and famous of the era, including Greta Garbo, Truman Capote, Audrey Hepburn, and Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

He held strong and defined principles on skincare, and created stream-lined, no frill skincare products. One of my favorite products from his line (not really his line anymore, per se, as he died in 1973) is the Sea Mud Soap.

A simple charcoal chalky soap made up of concentrated dead sea minerals, I feel it really gets all the gook off, and leaves my skin feeling taut and clean. More than the actual product, I like the ritual one is supposed to follow when using it.

Called the Splashing technique, you fill a small bowl with warm/hot water, dip the soap in, and rub the bar over your face, so it looks kind of sooty. Dip the soap again and work up a little lather on your face and lightly massage it in. Then, splash your face 20 times with the "treatment" water, and 10 more times with hot running water. According to the doc, this is the way to properly cleanse the skin. It's kind of refreshing to splash your face with water that many times, and I like it, although this is not the routine for a lazy, rushed person, haha.

The Dead Sea Soap and "splashing" are to be followed by toner and moisturizer according to skin type, and as a girl who read somewhere in 7th grade of the optimal "cleanser, toner, moisturizer" skincare routine (and have followed it to this day!), I couldn't agree more, and I really enjoy (although can't quite afford) his straight-forward line of products and ways of taking care of skin.

Regardless of the facial soap you use...why not try the Splashing technique? I think you'll be pleasantly surprised-- your skin will feel so...clean!

Erno Laszlo counters and products can be found at select Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Nordstrom, as well as online at www.ernolaszlo.com.

Let Beauty Week Begin...

2008-04-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

It's a new week, and with the help of constant perusals of Beauty Blogging Junkie and Lucky magazine, I have decided to crawl out of my recent beauty and fashion rut.

In honor of my renewed desire to be awake, alert, and fashionably-attired for work each morning, I'm going to post about all the beauty products I know and love this week.

First up: Garnier Fructis Style Smoothing Milk.

I'm not typically a "branded" girl when it comes to haircare; over the years, I've found that most shampoos/conditioners/stylers do a fine job on my hair, regardless of price or brand.

Then about 3 years ago, I was turned on to Garnier Fructis Style Smoothing Milk by a friend. I literally do not straighten my hair without it anymore.

My hair is sort of frumpy-half wavy by nature, the only benefit being that with a little styling, I can have either bedhead waves or slick straight hair. Straight and smooth hair seems to look less messy and more "done" so it tends to be my hair texture of choice. But, detangling, combing, blowdrying, waiting for the straightener to heat up, and gliding the iron over my thick head of hair takes a bit longer than my "always running late" self would like, and most rushed mornings, I stick with the easy to manage wavy look.

By combing a dime-size drop of the smoothing milk through the ends of damp/wet hair, achieving the straight hair look becomes just as simple. The hair lotion reallyyy helps with detangling, and I swear blowdrying my hair is 10 times faster when I use it. The hairbrush glides through my un-tangled hair like a dream I tell you, and I only need a light once-over with the straightener (if anything), to get the smoothest, sleekest straight hair I so badly want.

The first time I used Garnier Fructis Style Smoothing Milk, I was so impressed, I couldn't stop running my fingers through my hair. I was in love and I never turned back. I bet you won't either.

Garnier Fructis Style Smoothing Milk is available at most drugstores, including Rite Aid, Duane Reade, and Walgreens. It can also be found on www.drugstore.com for $3.48. Not a bad deal.

An Ode to Chien-Ming Wang

2008-03-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

In honor of the Yankees home opener tomorrow, this post is dedicated to my (second) favorite Yankees player, Chien-Ming Wang (2nd only to the l.o.m.l., Derek Jeter).

Mr. Wang and I are buddies. Not really, but I like to think so. I happened to be at his major league debut game on April 30, 2005 against the Toronto Blue Jays. Even better, we happened to have a-maz-ing seats and were surrounded by the players' friends and families, aka Wang's biggest Taiwanese fan club on that cloudy Saturday afternoon.

They sang songs in their native language for every strike thrown, and held up signs in fuddled English ("KKK Go Go Go - clearly an innocent, cultural misunderstanding, but humorous and entertaining all the same), and generally made the exciting game that much more colorful and spirited.

It was an excellent game, and it was so uplifting to watch the rookie starting pitcher do so well in his major league debut. His first pitch thrown was a strike, and though he recorded no decision (closer Mariano Rivera took the win), he received a standing ovation when he left in the 7th inning, and the Yankees won 4-3. I've loved the guy ever since.

Tomorrow, March 31st, 2008 at 1:05pm EDT, Chien-Ming Wang will start the final Opening Day at Yankee stadium, on his 28th birthday no less. I'm wishing him all the luck in the world. Unfortunately, I will not be able to watch due to reality and the need to work everyday, but you should tune in...and sing something in Taiwanese when he throws a strike for me pleaseee. :)

New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Yankee Stadium

ESPN/YES

Monday, March 31st 1:05pm EDT

Primanti's

2008-03-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

I don't think you can talk about Pittsburgh without mentioning Primanti's (or the Steelers, for that matter, but it's not football season...just you wait).

Primanti Brothers is world famous (or at least we like to think that) for their greasy sandwiches, stacked high with your meat of choice, fries, tomatoes and cole slaw...yes, cole slaw. We've never claimed to be culinary geniuses in Pittsburgh, but don't knock it 'til you try it.

My personal top choices for sandwiches are the Pitts-burgher Cheesesteak, Capicola & Cheese, Turkey & Cheese, Roast Beef & Cheese, and my Lenten favorite, the Deluxe Double Egg & Cheese. All range from $4.99 to $6.49.

When I was home last weekend, I went to the Primanti's in the Strip District at 2am post-bar...the real way to go. The Primanti's in the Strip District (Read: not a community of strippers, but rather a strip of old school Italian and Polish grocers, butchers, Steelers pride shops, and restaurants amidst the old warehouse section of Pittsburgh) is the original location that has been in the area since the 1930's. It's a gritty little restaurant with a lot of charm and later-added murals of Pittsburgh icons covering the walls. It's open around the clock to accomodate truckers and workers in the area...and that also makes it a very convenient stop-over on the way back from the bars, haha.

There are a few other Primanti's outposts throughout the city, and vendors in the Pittsburgh stadiums, but then almost 10 years ago, they began expanding into suburbia with sit down restaurants and expanded menus.

Now it seems every time I go home, there are more Primanti's locations that have cropped up. There are currently 14 locations throughout Pittsburgh and 2 in Florida...Florida?! It almost seems like Primanti's is on it's way to becoming the Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks of Pittsburgh, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Nothing beats the original. Nothing beats being in the Strip District at whatever hour of day or night, and having the cranky man behind the counter fry you up a huge, greasy, falling apart with deliciousness sandwich...

No trip to Pittsburgh would be complete without a visit to the Primanti's on the Strip. Yum.

Primanti Brothers - Strip District

46 18th St. (at Smallman St.)

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

412-263-2142

BODIES...The Exhibition

2008-03-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

I held a brain this weekend, and a heart.

BODIES...The Exhibition is currently on view at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, and it was my grandma's belated Christmas present for the whole fam to take her to see it.

It was very informative, and really interesting! Besides medical and dental school students, who ever really gets to see the human body like this?? It really brought to life all those things I learned in high school anatomy class that went in one ear and right out the other (sorry Mr. Austin).

While waiting on line, my thoughts were all over the place. I really didn't know what to expect; to tell you the truth, I was a little nervous to see real dead bodies dissected and up close. Would it creep me out or make me nauseous? I don't take throw up well...maybe I wouldn't like this either. But, I was very intrigued at the same time.

As we first entered the exhibition, it felt like a cattle call. There are a lot of Pittsburghers interested in the body I guess, and it was slow moving through the first few sections.

The first room consisted of all the bones - pretty tame. Most of these things I had seen before in museums or classrooms. The tibia, the fibula, the skull, etc. There were some cool looking skeletons in fun athletic poses that I enjoyed, but other than that, I wasn't amazed yet.

Then, the first astounding thing: a full human skin looking like shed snake skin laying in a glass box (Snow White style). Creepyyy. It looked...kinda like lightly tanned leather.

As we moved through the rooms, we moved through the different systems of the body. I saw things I probably will never see again. I saw muscles, what I work so hard for in the gym, up close and personal. I saw adipose tissue (fat!), what I work so hard to not have any of, up close and personal. (Sidenote: My thought when I looked at the "adipose tissue" body - It must suck to have your dead body on display as the example of what love handles look like.)

The exhibition was set up really well. You saw each system and part dissected and on its own, and then you were shown that system within everything else in the body on a separate "model." It's truly amazing how everything fits together...there's so much stuff in there!

10 Thoughts and New Facts Learned at BODIES:

1. I don't ever want to have black lungs. Don't smoke - black lungs are not attractive! (who cares if no one ever sees them...it's so unhealthy!)

2. The development of a fetus is such a wonder. This section of the exhibit was hard to look at knowing that these little ones never made it. Yet, it was so interesting to see how big they are at each stage and at what point they develop all their miniature organs, considering we only ever see how big the baby bump is from the outside.

3. The stomach is not nearly as big as I assumed it was. I should eat less.

4. The liver is huuuge. I should drink more.

(kidding. That's the Irish in me.)

5. Human muscles look kind of like meat. I gave up meat for Lent, and this makes it significantly harder to go back to the good ol' rib roast now that Easter has passed.

6. The process of digestion to "elimination" should take from 10 hours to several days. I'm glad I'm not in college anymore...those dining hall meals were clearly not being digested properly.

7. Females are born with all the eggs they will ever have. Males keep producing sperm until they are old. Now that's just not fair.

8. No matter how close I looked, I could not tell a difference between the healthy organs and the cancerous ones. Good thing I never tried to go into any medical field. I'll leave it to the professionals.

9. The kidneys are really tiny. And to think kidney stones cause so much pain.

10. I still kind of giggled to myself when I saw the anus and the testes. I might need to grow up a little.

BODIES...The Exhibition is on view in many places, not just Pittsburgh (we're not thattt cool). Check out www.bodiestheexhibition.com to see if it is on display in your area. I highly suggest seeing it.

Anberlin - The Unwinding Cable Car

2008-03-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Unfortunately, I feel sick as a dog today. Fortunately, I'm back home in Pittsburgh so mom and dad have let me be a permanent fixture on the couch today, and catered to my every sicky need.

I feel too crummy to try and write real coherent thoughts, but here is an awesome music video I caught the other night on tv, and wanted to share. Really makes you think...

Anberlin - The Unwinding Cable Car

Once I'm feeling better, I plan to write about the cool things I saw and did this weekend in my home city of Pittsburgh. Not living here anymore has really allowed me to appreciate the place in a whole new way.