Things I Love Thursday: The Morning After A Magical Evening!
[ 8 December 2011, 12:27 ]
Happy Thursday! I’m reeling from my amazing night at W New York Downtown: sparkling rosé, an exhibition by Mick Rock, live tunes from the impeccably-dressed Mark Ronson, & dancing onstage with Betsey Johnson! C‘était magnifique et magique! I climbed into bed late-late-late, with a face still full of make-up (bad girl!), buzzing from the details of the night.
Other than that, it has been a week of wonderful small things. So without further ado…
Pink Light Burlesque (more details on this to come very soon!) 
Stacks of sparkly, noisy bracelets & bangles Amy Winehouse’s Lioness album (wrap your ears around it ASAP!) Dressing like eccentric heiresses with Molly Crabapple & being shot by Lydia Hudgens against ivy-covered walls with a Mr. Pink Diana F+ camera — I can’t wait to show you the results! Um, the fact that you can MAKE YOUR OWN MUPPET online at FAO Schwarz!!! Watching guys who look like accountants rap along to Jay-Z, word-for-word Wearing my skull-print onesie practically every day Dangly eyeball earrings My hot pink Christmas tree Chocolate-covered gummy bears (OOH LA LA!) Brandy’s Best Of… (on repeat!) Monster-face sweaters Daydreaming about travelling to exotic locations! Doomtree’s New Kings album (Did you know that listening to new music creates new neural pathways in your brain? All the more reason to listen to different tunes!) Pinterest (I’m back into it with gusto!) Getting callouses on my hands from lifting weights… TOUGH! Dancing all night long Kno vs. Hov Wearing a tutu with a velvet blazer Ladurée candles Raw vegan ice-cream (chocolate & cherry swirl?!) The fact that everyone — even heterosexual males — goes gaga for my iPhone case! This photo (maximum cuteness) Excitement about new projects & new challenges! Ray Charles, Prince, Stevie Wonder & Michael Jackson People with the guts to be true to themselves Buying sparklers at the party store Seaweed rice crackers!
I LOVE YOU! Have a fantastic day!
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Things I Love Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving!
[ 24 November 2011, 12:47 ]
Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours! Hank & Dolly & I are curled up on the couch, with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on television (on mute) & Ray Charles (playing loudly!), while Mike works his genius in the kitchen. Lydia’s coming over later to partake in our feast, & it will be lovely.
(Definitely a highlight of my year!)
(& who will go on holiday with me!)
(& inspire me in endless ways!)
This has been an incredible year for me, with plenty of magical events. I have so much to be thankful for, & I think you probably do, too!
Unfortunately, for all the positives around Thanksgiving, this is a day with a long, sad history. Even today, American schools don’t teach their students about what really went on, but thankfully, we’re capable of educating ourselves. There are truthful, accurate summaries here, here & here.
The quote below really sums up how I feel about Thanksgiving…
“Yes, we should spend time with our families and loved ones, and yes, we should be grateful and thankful for all that we have, but not at the expense of ignoring an entire race of people, their culture, and their history. The fact that history textbooks and schools try to glorify the Pilgrims while omitting significant facts about the Natives represents that there is a lot to improve in the United States. Let us not become blinded by super-patriotism or blowout sales of “Black Friday.” Let us give some thought to the Native people, learn from their struggles, and embolden ourselves to stand up against racism and genocide in all forms.” (Source)
Additionally, this morning Mike & I watched the following TEDTalk by Aaron Huey, about his interactions with the Lakota people. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Today, while we celebrate the many blessings in our lives, let’s be mindful, too, of the history of this country, & those who came before.
Let's talk on Twitter! Add me on Facebook! Enroll in Radical Self Love Bootcamp! Tags: things i love thursdayThings I Love Thursday: Creative Mornings!
[ 17 November 2011, 11:59 ]
It’s 10am on a Friday. There is a quiet hum echoing through the streets of DUMBO from the traffic overhead. The streets are sparsely populated, with the exception of the occasional stroller-pushing mother or hungover hipster.
Suddenly, the area is plunged into cacophony when a marching band, dressed entirely in red, start blasting the notes of a jolly polka… & they’re not alone. These merry men spearhead a procession of 200 people dressed like a rainbow which snakes through the streets. Onlookers stand staring, mouths slightly agog!
Tina Roth Eisenberg — known around the internet as Swiss Miss — is wearing a bandleader’s hat, & swinging a baton. She’s up the front with the marching band, leading the way. Behind her are clumps of people dressed in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple & pink. The mix of piano accordion, saxophone, trumpet, tuba & drums has everyone dancing & waving sparklers triumphantly.
But first I have to go back to the beginning…
Creative Mornings is a monthly event which happens in cities all across the world. A bunch of excitable people get together on a Friday morning to listen to a 20 minute talk, eat breakfast & meet new people. Sounds pretty great, right?
I had heard of Creative Mornings through the grapevine, but for one reason or another, never had the opportunity to go. At the beginning of November, I decided to change all that. Some kind of primordial instinct kicks in when the weather starts to cool in this city. We suddenly realise that soon, it’ll be too cold to want to go anywhere, & our calendars start to buckle under the heaving strain of our newly ambitious social life. My embrace of Creative Mornings was a little like that. As a gal who works from home, I know that by mid-December, the thrill of leaving the house will have all but entirely dissipated. You gotta make the most of this kind of enthusiasm!
It makes sense that as soon as registration opened for November’s event, I was all over it. Then I actually read the description of the event.
Dear New Yorkers,Just so you know, this month’s CreativeMornings is going to be unusually colorful. Led by our color-loving speaker and rainbow queen, Jessi Arrington, there will be a short, action-packed Rainbow Parade directly after the talk in DUMBO, NY at 9:45am.
With that said, for this month’s event, you need to dress in ideally a single color (at least partially). Join the fun, wear your favorite color, and we promise all of your friends will be soo jealous.
Sincerely,
Tina + KevinP.S. We’re not kidding. :)
Ding ding ding! JACKPOT!
I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was enthusiastic about it anyway. I wore a cobalt blue dress (& a brown faux fur coat — it was FREEZING cold!) & headed over to Brooklyn to meet Lydia Hudgens (who took the following photos!), & see what we could see.
Jessi Arrington was the November speaker. She’s a designer for whom colour is extremely important! She has a cute feature on her blog where you can view her outfits by colour, & she only ever buys vintage. She stood on-stage in a sequinned tank & a multi-coloured circle skirt, & told us about her personal tips & tricks for harnessing her uber-creative powers.
Twenty minutes passed quickly, & before long, Jessi was changing — in front of us, onstage! — into a neon orange outfit, complete with rainbow petticoat, gold gloves & nutty hat. She handed out coloured balloons & told us to follow a balloon that matched our outfit. We quickly scoffed the rest of our chocolate croissants & peppermint tea, & went outside to join the madness…
The red people went first… They followed the marching band at the front, & headed up the parade. Decked out in shades of scarlet, vermillion, crimson, ruby, cherry, cerise, wine, coral, rose, maroon & cinnamon, they were a sight to see. It made me think of all my favourite people, for whom red is their favourite colour. (This list includes, but is not limited to my husband, my father, my mother, & Nubby Twiglet! I think I attract these “red people”!)
They were closely followed by the orange group, who cheerfully pranced along in various tones of tangerine.
Then it was yellow, who brightened up the parade with their lemons, daffodils, mustards & flaxen loveliness!
This is the view from where I was marching. In front of me was the group of greenies, who ranged from olive to jade to emerald, lime to aquamarine. I stood behind them with the blues. Our outfits swept from azure to cobalt, sapphire to powder blue; from midnight blue to indigo & robin’s egg hues.
Behind us were the purple & pink groups, who delighted everyone with their fabulous mix of amethyst, heliotrope, lavender, lilac, mauve, violet, magenta, fuchsia, hot & neon pinks.
As we neared Manhattan Bridge, we were all offered sparklers. !!!!!!! You have no idea how happy this made me! The best part is that they weren’t just normal-sized sparklers, they were JUMBO! (Jumbo sparklers in DUMBO!) I have never seen such enormous sparklers in my life! We passed the spark literally back & forth, as everyone in the group helped light one another up.
The thing that was most exciting to me about being part of the rainbow parade — other than the colour & the music! — was the total, abject lack of self-consciousness. Seriously, wearing all one colour & dancing around in a line, waving a flag or balloon, & perhaps wearing a wig would make even the bravest person feel a little silly. But there were no exchanged looks of embarrassment or awkwardness; everyone was grinning, laughing, hootin’ & hollerin’. I turned to several strangers & exclaimed, “This is so awesome!”, & I know I wasn’t the only one.
We weren’t marching for any particular reason. There was no purpose, no politics, no real reason for participating in a rainbow parade, except for pure pleasure. It was simply a gathering of joyfulness, a celebration of colour & freedom & the fact that we can do whatever we want!
The whole thing reminds me of a quote that I have loved for years & years…
“There is no becoming, no revolution, no struggle, no path; already you’re the monarch of your own skin — your inviolable freedom waits to be completed only by the love of other monarchs: a politics of dream, urgent as the blueness of sky.” (Hakim Bey)
Sparklers make me SKIP!
If there’s a Creative Mornings gathering in your neck of the woods, I cannot encourage you to go strongly enough! It’s FREE & it’s totally inspiring. I felt so excited & happy & reinvigorated after my participation in the rainbow parade; it was an incredible way to kick off the weekend!
Even better than that, I think it’s great for the soul (& the brain!) to surround yourself with new & interesting people as regularly as you can. You never know who you’ll meet, what you might learn, or what kind of parade you might become a part of!
Let's talk on Twitter! Add me on Facebook! Enroll in Radical Self Love Bootcamp! Tags: things i love thursdayThings I Love Thursday: Drake
[ 10 November 2011, 23:32 ]
Short & sweet: Drake’s new album, Take Care, is dominating my eardrums this week. I seriously cannot get enough. The songs have been echoing through the chambers of my brain since Monday, over & over & over.
It’s not just me, either. Jazzi sent me a tweet earlier yesterday which said,
remember when we listened to nothing but @drake on repeat? It’s happening again… #takecare
I wouldn’t want you to miss out. So here are some of my favourite tracks.
If you let me, here’s what I’ll do… I’ll take care of you.
I’m just saying, you could do better… Tell me, have you heard that lately?
...So good. SO, SO GOOD. I need to be in Los Angeles, driving around with Jazzi, & listening to this on repeat!
Let's talk on Twitter! Add me on Facebook! Enroll in Radical Self Love Bootcamp! Tags: things i love thursdayThings I Love Thursday: Barcelona!
[ 3 November 2011, 12:16 ]
Barcelona is beautiful! It’s strange to think that just a couple of weeks ago, I was on another continent, roaming around a foreign city, exploring & being delighted at every turn.
It was on a very rainy Wednesday that I trundled my hot pink suitcase down the stairs & into a waiting car. Waiting inside was Yuli, the head genius at Style Coalition & someone I’ve known since I first moved to NYC! After a long ride in NYC traffic, we found ourselves on a Delta flight bound for Barcelona. 10 bloggers from all over the U.S.A. had participated in the MNG for MANGO project, & now we were off for our final challenge: a jaunt in the capital of Catalonia!
We had no idea what to expect… & we were absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of beauty.
As always, I took my Fujifilm Instax camera with me, & used it & my iPhone to document the entire trip. I didn’t even take my digital SLR out of my suitcase! Here, then, are some of my favourite shots from the city, & a few photos from my travel companions!
We stayed at Granados 83, a hotel very close to Passeig de Gràcia, a major shopping street. The hotel smelled delicious, all the staff were extremely friendly & helpful, & the breakfasts were stellar! Granados 83 has a lot of very modern technology, including a slightly nutty light system & a shower so complicated I had to be shown how to use it by someone from the front desk!
Regardless, we had a great time there. The beds are enormous & very comfortable, & every room had a deep, luxurious bath, which I took full advantage of!
With Jess & Karen on a sightseeing bus!
It was so much fun to go away with a group of people I barely knew. Usually this kind of thing is quite a long way outside my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed myself! Within about an hour of landing in Barcelona, a fun little group had formed, & so it was. I spent the majority of my time with Karen, Jess & Wendy, wandering around the streets, laughing & exploring.
One of the best things we did was get on one of those double-decker tourist buses which goes all around the city. My mother went to Barcelona last year & made me promise to take a bus-ride so I could “get my bearings” (her words, not mine!). I begrudgingly agreed — normally, getting on a bus is NOT my idea of a good time. Thankfully, I was able to talk Jess & Karen into it too, & it was fantastic! There are so many wonderful things to see in Barcelona.
While we were only in Barcelona for three days, we managed to see SO MUCH of the city! The city is relatively compact & easy to explore, so bring your walking shoes (or in my case, comfortable motorcycle boots), & be sure to carry a map. All those intersections start to look the same after a while!
The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família is unbelievable & so incredibly gorgeous! We didn’t have time to go inside (& the line stretched around the block!), but next time, I definitely want to go in. The Wikipedia page alone is a major treat for the eyeballs!
We were all in love with the wrought iron balconies & the thoughtful details everywhere.
When you’re in Barcelona, be sure to indulge in hot chocolate with churros. It’s a Spanish specialty, & is offered all over the place. It was one of my favourite experiences, & everyone else in our group seemed to love it equally!
This magic shop is 130 years old! Kind of a highlight… !
At Cornelia & Co.
On our first night, we ate at Cornelia & Co., & devoured croquettes, fish, incredible desserts & plenty of tomato & garlic on fresh coca bread. We were so spoiled!
Pretty much everything we ate in Barcelona was off-the-charts in terms of freshness, presentation & flavour. Definitely an eating capital of the world!
With Wendy at dinner on our first night. You almost can’t tell we’re jet-lagged!
At Boca Grande.
Boca Grande is one of the most incredible concept restaurants I’ve ever seen. The food was good, yes — the sangria was muy muy bueno & the DIY tomato, garlic & coca bread was so much fun — but where this restaurant really shines is in its interior design.
Boca Grande is a three-level building, & every level is totally different. The bathrooms are in the basement, but this is no ordinary basement. No. The walls are covered in mirrors of every shape & size, there is a polar bear skin hanging on the wall, & there’s a DJ spinning tunes all night long. The bathroom turns into more & more of a party as the night wears on! On the top level is a fantastic, decadent bar, & a black hallway filled with taxidermied animal heads. It was so Nubby’s kind of place!
In the bathroom…
The stairwell…
With Diana, Karen, & Wendy after a huge meal at Boca Grande.
The architecture in Barcelona is absolutely gorgeous. Everywhere you look are beautiful old buildings with elaborate wrought iron balconies & terraces, & that’s not to mention the incredible Gaudi structures dotted all over the city. As we walked around, we picked out the apartments we’d like to live in…
I love that someone painted this ladder neon pink!
Me, taking a photo of Karen. Photo by Jess!
We stumbled into a Sephora which just happened to be having a Make Up For Ever exhibition! These women were totally painted up & looked INCREDIBLE!
Ultimate travelling outfit: slouchy warm sweater from TopShop, skirt-with-leggings-attached from Betsey Johnson.
With Karen at the MNG for MANGO shoot!
On one walk, we stumbled into Barri Gòtic, the old centre of the city. The architecture here is absolutely insane & off-the-charts; I’d never seen anything so beautiful. A lot of the buildings here are from Medieval times, & the Cathedral La Seu is not to be missed, even though it has a €6 entrance fee. Believe me, it’s worth it! The cloisters date back to the 14th & 15th century, & there are altars to saints all around the perimeter, not to mention 13 white swans wandering around, & palm trees growing right in the middle of the structure.
Lighting candles for saints.
The interior of Cathedral La Seu.
Mary.
At Cathedral La Seu. Photo by Karen.
Oh, & here’s a helpful hint… If you get a new passport, but your American visa is in your expired passport, BRING BOTH OF THEM WITH YOU! I got a rude shock on Sunday morning, when our group went to the airport & I was denied a plane ticket because I didn’t have both passports with me. A heart-stoppingly stressful day followed!
I really, really hope this never happens to you, but if you ever need your passport sent to you in Barcelona in a hurry, I recommend using Delta Dash. Saint Lydia, saver of lives, grabbed my passport, took it to JFK, & put it on a flight Sunday evening. It was with me in Barcelona by 8am. Picking it up, however, was a mission in & of itself. Trying to find the WFS building was difficult enough, not to mention barely anyone spoke English, & I had to run back & forth between the customs building & WFS, before sprinting — literally, sprinting — to a Delta ticket counter & changing my flight. Oh, & I had to keep a taxi waiting for me for TWO HOURS while all this madness went down (since the cargo area is absolutely nowhere near anything else, & there is no other way of getting between the terminals).
Let me tell you, it was dramatic! It all came together, though, & I am so grateful to the lovely people of Barcelona who did their best to help me out. I’m sure you’re not reading this, but THANK YOU!
I am now, of course, thrilled to be back in America. Phew!
We love, love, LOVED being in Barcelona for a few gorgeous days. If you’re heading over that way, you should definitely check it out. I promise you won’t be disappointed!
For some extra Barcelona goodness, check out the posts from my fellow travel companions Jess, Wendy & Karen (& again!)
Thanks SO MUCH to jcpenney & MNG for MANGO for flying us out, putting us up, & treating us like rockstars!
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