I can’t belie…

I can’t believe this is my last blog.  It seems like just yesterday I was getting the hang of this whole blogging every day thing.  I don’t know how all these “professional” bloggers do it.  Who has this much to write about on a daily basis? I like to think I’m an interesting person, but certainly not THAT interesting.  If it means getting a good grade then I guess I do what I have to do.  I’m excited for this next chapter in my life.  I cant wait to  be focused on my job all day every day.  I cant wait to go into the city and reasearch.  I cant wait to have my photographer and I cant wait to go on shoots and I cant wait to merchandise and shop and play and do what I do best.   Hofstra, its been a great run, but good fucking riddance. I am not sad to see you go.  Of course, I will miss the people I’ve been fortunate to call my best friends, but I know that we are all off to the next amazing chapter in our lives.  One of my best friends is moving to north Carolina.  I cant wait to go visit her! Another one of my friends moved back home to Maryland.  I definitely envision some road trips in my future! For me, college hasn’t been all its cracked up to be, but it certainly got me to where I am now.  And for that, I don’t regret a thing.

Ever since I wa…

Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted a pet.  My mom has terrible allergies, so all furry animals, otherwise known as the best kinds of animals, were not allowed in my house.  At one point, I think we had a few fish, but they didn’t last too long.  Stupid goldfish.  Luckily, my cousins got a dog that I like to consider my own as well!  His name is Dudley and he is a seven year old Wheaten terrier with a ton of personality.  He isn’t the smartest pup in the world, but he is just perfect.  My cousins adopted him from a wheaten rescue program in New Jersey.  At first he was really skittish; literally anything would set him off.  Even making a fart noise with your tongue set him off, and he would dart out of the room as quick as his little legs would take him.  The name Dudley really suits him; if you talk to him, he gives this adorably quizzical look while he stares blankly and tilts his head to the side.  As he gets older, unfortunately, he has his fair share of health problems.  The poor guy suffers from allergies and skin rashes, so he is on a special diet and has to take medication daily.  No matter what, though, he is still as playful as he was as a puppy, and even though he is technically not “my” dog, I love him just the same.

Why do people t…

Why do people tend to lose their temper so quickly?  Last week, a woman came into my store with her daughter, who was looking for a dress to wear to her middle school graduation.  When we didn’t have the one she wanted in our store, we had it transferred from one of our other locations.  We told the woman, we can have it for you in time, but if you don’t hear from us by Thursday, please call us.  Of course, Thursday comes and goes and nobody hears from the woman.  Fast forward to Saturday, our busiest day of the week, when the woman comes in looking for her dress.  The store was absolute chaos, which is normal for a Saturday.  Before I can even get a word out, she ERUPTS at me; she’s yelling at me for not having a dress I didn’t even have a chance to look for!  The entire store went deafeningly silent.  This 4’11, braces clad mom had just ripped me a new asshole in front of every employee, owner, and customer in the store at that time, which was a LOT of people.  I became so frazzled that I was frantic when looking for the dress.  We couldn’t find it, which prompted even MORE yelling.  In the end, my boss’s father was able to find the same dress in one of the other stores, and we assured we would have it for her the next day.  About an hour after she left, lo and behold, we found the dress.  There it was, in the cabinet, with all the other transfers.  Exactly where it should be.  If she hadn’t yelled at me and caused such a scene, I could have efficiently looked for her dress and everything would have been fine and dandy.

I like to consi…

I like to consider myself a good listener.  Even since I was young, my friends would come to me and tell me their problems and ask me for advice.  Some even called me their personal therapists (non for profit, of course). To this day I pride myself on this trait of mine, and I always like to let my friends know I am there for them.  One of my very close friends has been having issues with her two best friends.  She feels alienated and neglected, and sitting down and talking to them showed little to no improvement.  She came to me for advice, and it took me some time to think of an answer for her.  I have been in that very same situation many times in my life, and I wondered what I would have wanted to hear if I came to someone, asking for advice. In my therapy sessions with my “clients” I try to be as honest with them as possible, and I like to play devil’s advocate when I can.  The truth hurts, but if your friends can’t give it to you straight then who can?! Luckily, this holds true in particular for my friend who was having this issue, so I tried to give it to her as honestly as possible.  I told her that these situations suck, and they are hard to deal with no matter how young or old you are.  The most you can do is stay resilient, because if you let them get to you they will just continue to walk all over you.  Even though in the moment the situation seems like it will never get better, it always does. 

I love food. …

I love food.  Anyone who knows me knows I love food.  Anyone who DOESN’T know me knows I love food.  And not just eating it, either.  I love to cook, I love to watch food tv shows, I love it all!  Give me Top Chef, Chopped, Iron Chef, and Diners Drive ins and Dives just about any day of the week.  Give me some greens, fresh herbs, and chicken, and I’ll make you the best darn dinner you’ve ever had. Of course, eating is my favorite.  Sometimes my love of all things edible gets me into a little trouble with my pants, and I have to tone down my food enthusiasm just a little and hit the gym more.  Until this week, I was on what I refer to as an “eating rampage”.  I ate with reckless abandon, savoring every last morsel of whatever I was eating.  I loved every minute of it.  Today, finally, I got my shit together.  I made myself a masterpiece of meals, chock full of my most favorite healthy foods.   Breakfast was egg whites on toast with a peach.  For lunch, Vietnamese summer rolls, veggies and hummus, and my favorite veggies.  For dinner, a vegan enchilada from Trader Joes – the motherland – and my specialty: burnt broccoli.  Add some garlic, black pepper, and a dash of olive oil, cook it in a pan over high heat until the edges are burnt, and voila! Veggies fit for a king! Or queen! Or anyone on a diet!

Yes, this is go…

Yes, this is going to be another post where I ramble about my shopping travels and some vintage finds.  Tonight I have a surprise party for one of my closest friends who, unrelated, has the same name as I.  We also have a major thing in common: we love vintage, thrifting, reworking, the whole shebang.  So when I found out about the party, I knew I couldn’t just get her any old gift.  I knew it had to be something special, something vintage, something she would actually wear to jazz up her outfits. 

 

On my (awful) first date this past weekend, I passed this quaint little vintage store I didn’t even know existed.  It was located just on the edge of town, nestled between a store that sold lighting fixtures and some fancy Italian restaurant.  I gazed longingly into the window, salivating at the leather goods, the jewelry, the detailed beadwork on rack of dresses nearest to the window.  I’ll be back for you my sweet, I thought to myself, all while ignoring my date.  Don’t care.  My first love is fashion.

 

Anywhoosier, as soon as I knew I needed a gift for my friend, I knew this was the place I would come for that special unique piece.  The saleswoman, who looked like she could be related to Bernadette Peters, greeted me warmly as she welcomed me into her vintage paradise.  And then I saw it: a brassy gold wrap bracelet adorned with red and blue beads.  It was PERFECT! I knew had picked out the best gift I could possibly dream of for my dear friend, and I knew she would love it.  I walked out of the store happy.  Probably because I also bought myself a skirt.  Details, details.

Restoration

My dad is an attorney, and he has clients all over the country.   Many of his associates are based in California, so he spends a cumulative month over the course of a year on the west coast.  In between meetings and conferences, my father likes to sample the culinary goodness that California has to offer.  After an afternoon full of shoveling his face full of the best California Tex Mex, my dad stumbled upon a parking lot packed FULL of vintage Volkswagen Beetles and VW vans.  He immediately took pictures and sent them to my mom and me, bragging about his discovery.  My mother responded immediately: “Do NOT buy anything!!” My response followed: “Buy me EVERYTHING!!”  I have had a longstanding love affair with vintage VW cars, and the thought of owning and fixing up my very own VW Beetle is at the top of my “When I Make My First Million” List. 

 

I think my love for the cute car stemmed from my love of all things a little quirky and off the beaten path.  Moreover, the thought of fixing one up and making it uniquely my own – a passion project – is something I dream about.

 

Since vintage Beetles are just slightly out of my price range for a second car, I try to implement this idea of taking something “old” and making it new in my day to day life.  Just recently, I purchased a vintage Levi denim shirt for seven dollars on eBay.  With the help of a pair of pliers, some studs, and some bleach, I was able to turn it into a one of a kind denim masterpiece. Not only that, but my boss absolutely loved it, and offered me the chance to make and sell them at my store!  Oh VW Beetle, you haven’t steered me wrong yet.

Feliz Birthday!

Birthdays galore! Yesterday, I celebrated my close friend’s twenty third birthday. Today, my sister turned 19 (I feel old). There was much celebrating to be done in the last forty eight hours. So much cake, so little time! I swear, it’s like they do it on purpose. I think they are trying to get me fat. Whatever, more delcious treats for me!

The cake and all that good stuff is fun, but the best part, in all honesty, is the gifts. Sure, the shopping part is fantastic, but there is nothnig that makes me happier than giving a gift to a loved one that I know they will genuinely adore.

For my friend, my gift of choice was a bracelet. It was simplistic in style, but that made it extremely sophisticated. Just like her! It made me feel great knowing she absolutely loved it. For my sister, I sneakily picked up a top from the store I work at. One I know she has been eyeing for quite some time. The look on her face was worth it all; shock, surprise, glee… her face showed every emotion in the book.

For dinner, we went to my sister’s favorite restaurant as of late. La Candela in Hicksville is a small Peruvian joint with KILLER sangria. One of their specialties is ceviche, which is most definitely in my top ten favorite foods. Depending on the country of origin, certain things are different. The core recipe, however, is consistent from culture to culture. Raw fish – tuna, white fish, calamari, and shrimp are popular choices – are placed into a citrus juice with a crap ton of cilantro and some other seasonings. The citrus cooks the fish, resulting in something so delicious, so flavorful, its hard to share with my family! But I was nice. I shared with my sister. But only because it was her birthday.

Inspiration Everywhere

I am someone who is hopelessly addicted to fashion. I am also someone who makes 9 dollars an hour (now $10.. got a raise last week, a-thank you) who can’t afford the simply breathtaking red leather, stud-clad purse by the one and only Valentino.  Unfortunately for me, $1350 is just out of my accessories budget.

After a few seconds (okay, a good five minutes) full of hyperventilating/gazing lovingly/weeping at its beauty, followed by a few seconds (10 minutes) of depression induced by the sad realization that I could not own it myself, I decided it was time to get creative.

After a five minute (okay, two hour) search deep into the interwebs, I found it.  A perfect red purse just BEGGING to be covered in studs.  Two transactions later, I was the proud (soon-to-be) owner of the ingredients for my very own Valentino soufflé.

I have to say this is my favorite part of the job.  Not only do I get to create, but I get to show them off and use them in my day to day activities.  It’s even better when my friends and family love them!  It even landed me a potential spot doing studwork for my job; all because the store’s owners liked my studwork on a reworked denim shirt! I know I say it in every blog post, but doing what I love is what makes me happiest. The rest falls into place.

Soul Food

After a long day, there’s nothing like coming home to a delicious home-cooked meal. For me, soul food is the pièce de résistance of all home cooked meals.  Traditional soul food meals are hard to come by in my house though, since we do our best to eat healthy and keep slightly kosher (yes, only slightly. My parents are weird.) 

I like to think my mom does a good job of improvising. Tonight, for example, she made her own version of Hamburger Helper; all the delicious with a fraction of the fat! Chock full of soy meat, fat free cheese, and cauliflower blended with low-cal cheese sauce, Cheeseburger Casserole as we call it, is truly a masterpiece. 

 

One other favorite of mine is her traditional “meat and potatoes” dinner; we are not a meat and potatoes kind of family, but once in a while it TOTALLY hits the spot.  Roast chicken, creamed spinach, seasoned potatoes, and corn… I’m salivating just thinking about it.

 

I could talk about food all day. I went to STK yesterday in the meatpacking district.  One word: underwhelming.  Seventy bucks for a mediocre meal makes me sad… I am the first person to admit I will pay top dollar for a quality meal, but to eat somewhere for the sake of saying we ate there is just LAME. Give me a hole in the wall over STK any day.