While watching an episode of Top Chef: New York, I noted one of Padma Lakshmi's outfits as being stylish. She was wearing blue pants and a loose fitting blue top of a different shade of blue. When up for debate, she was either wearing too much blue or very casual but stylish. Here is proof of the latter. Lucky Magazine.
Lucky says that a multi-tonal outfit can be incredibly chic when using different tones of the same color, a neutral belt, and/or a shoe of a completely different color family. There you have it. Confirmation from the experts. It's a talent to translate runway looks to something approachable. Thanks to BravoTV.com and LuckyMag.com for providing photos.
Today I discovered a website called "they banned me.com" which is a self proclaimed home for those who have been banned from every other corner of the internet and share a hatred for web forum moderators and administrators who delete their offensive comments.
But isn't it by definition a website of their own with very loose moderation and administration? Anyway I felt that a number of the stories they had on the site were funny and offensive. This includes this graphic approach to sexism. I love these fake inspirational posters Thankyou to theybanned me for providing it.
I also saw one half of my favorite band since the 8th grade, the Smashing Pumpkins. Now I hear you saying already "gee steph grow up already." But my reply is, "I've just always been very sophisticated. Not every 13 year old is attracted to 9 minute 70's style rock."
Having very restrictive parents, I was never really able to fulfill my middle school fantasy of seeing Mr.Corgan live with his original line up. I saw Zwan once, but it wasn't the same. In fact, the lights kind of cancelled out half my memories of that show. I think I had some type of seizure. But I digress, in 2008 I got to see Mr. Corgan and Mr. Chamberlain live.
I really enjoyed the cracks Billy C made at us for being old. I really did feel old. I stood for the majority of the concert, I was angry at the woman who was obviously on crystal who would periodically elbow my concert friend, and I was a little bit peeved at the couple who was making out in front of us.
I loved the opening where Billy came out wearing a big theatrical headpiece and a foofy dress. At first I thought it was part of the set, but no it was our personal, our ultimate, our court appointed heavy metal machine- Billy Corgan.
A Set List:
tarantula, glow, i am one, mayonaise, eye the end is the begining is the end (watchmen trailer style, not batman and robbin) a 10 min version of heavy metal machines today rosemart stand inside your love tonight tonight
You might have heard of the massive recession going on. This undoubtedly cuts into one's funds for the occasional spa excursion. I don't often go to the spa. But it's not out of the question to have the experience even in this economic climate. See the below "recipes" for masks etc that I plagiarized.
Coffee Body Scrub What you need: 2 cups of coarsely ground coffee ½ cup raw sugar or sea salt 2 to 3 tablespoons of massage oil Mix all of the ingredients together. Take a hot shower to moisten your skin and to open your pores. While in the shower, use wide circular motions to rub the coffee body scrub on your skin, making sure you use strong, even pressure. Shower off, pat your skin dry and apply a thin layer of your favorite body lotion.
Avocado Carrot Cream Mask: This mask helps rebuild skin collagen, improve tone and texture and fade age spots, thanks to vitamin E (found in avocados), the beta-carotene and antioxidants of carrots and the high calcium and protein of the cream. What you need: 1 avocado, mashed 1 carrot, cooked and mashed ½ cup of heavy cream 1 egg, beaten 3 tablespoons of honey Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Spread the mask gently over your face and neck and leave on for 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse off with cool water.
Strawberry Hand and Foot Exfoliant: Get softer, smoother hands and feet, thanks to natural fruit acids that aid exfoliation. What you need: 8 to 10 strawberries 2 tablespoons of apricot oil (or olive oil) 1 teaspoon of coarse salt (kosher salt or sea salt) Mix together all the ingredients into a paste, massage into hands and feet, rinse off and pat dry.
Fruit Salad Body Mask: It sounds like a healthy smoothie for your skin – and it is! The pineapple contains bromelain, a protein-digestive enzyme, which helps rid skin of dead cells and dirt and acts as a mild astringent. Grapes are rich in procyanidolic oligomers (PCOs) that provide protection against harmful UV rays, and bananas are loaded with vitamins, calcium and nutrients that keep your skin smooth and soft. Kiwi is high in vitamin C, and honeydew is soothing and hydrating. What you need: 2 slices of pineapple (rind removed) ½ medium honeydew melon (rind removed) 1 dozen green grapes 1 medium banana (peeled) 1 medium kiwi fruit (peeled) Puree all the ingredients in a food processor (the mixture will be slightly lumpy). Refrigerate for one hour. Smooth onto your body and face, leaving it on for 30 minutes. Rinse off with warm water.
This month I went to the Hold Steady show with a friend from law school. I felt very angelino while going to a show on a weeknight and running around in/from the torrential downpour that occurred at the end of the show. Those of you who are familiar with the phenomenon, those in California can't drive or deal with the rain. It's one of the reasons why no one walks in L.A. it's the rain (or fear of the rain.)
I'd been very curious about the Hold Steady for some time now and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. RRS now stands for "Rebel Rock Steph" as friend from law school says. The Hold Steady is a band which gives you a healthy dose of rock rock rock. Our energetic front man, Craig Finn is like an ultra excited Elvis Costello.
I often do a little research before going to the show and this guy catches a little flack for being a little chubby. "Who really cares?" is my immediate reply. We've been loving that bald Billy Corgan and also chubby Frank Black for years. Get over it fourteen year olds.
One of my favorite songs, and a crowd favorite as well was called "Chips Ahoy"
In light of the recent Metrolink tragedy in Chatsworth California- I feel that an issue must be brought to light in the Bloggosphere. This issue is the hearing impaired, incompetent 911 operator.
Tonight on the Channel 4 11 o'clock news, they played a series of 911 calls from the trainwreck. In all instances, the 911 operator treated the call like a prank or had conversations that went something like this:
Caller: "It was a train versus train accident." Operator: "Train?" Caller: "Yes it was a train. The train hit another train. Oh my God people are bleeding and dying here"
or
Caller: "We are on a train in Northridge." Operator: "Train?" Caller: "Yes, a train in Northridge." Operator: "Train?"
Does this seem insane to you? Are they hearing impaired? Are they really insensitive?
I once made a 911 call about a fire I saw by the side of the freeway next to some homes. The operator asked me 3 times which freeway I was traveling on and then didn't believe the direction that I was driving. 911 operator is an important job. I feel like there should be some minimum competency test. I mean there is one for document reviewers. . .
This month I travelled to Peru and survived the perilous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. It wasn't all that perilous, but it was a tough hike. After returning to the ancient Inca capital of Cusco, we observed the Inti Raymi festival where I learned that Peruvians love to flout authority. Observe, hundreds of Peruvians charge through police barricades down a steep hill (old Inca terraces) to see a cultural performance. It was an expensive ticket. Someone likened this move to watching concerts from a "Cheapskate Hill" near Cal.
The past 30 days has been huge. i saw a 15 song Cure encore. i also saw dj am. now i thought it was all hype but he was an absolute genius on the tables at the live105 bfd this weekend. I mean who mixes oasis like this? amazing!
This clip was from the actual show.
This clip is not at the bfd but it exhibits significant skills
so surprisingly enough I attended a sample sale. i was trying to go to the brewery art walk and was distracted by a sign saying some dresses were x % off. the dresses (and tops) were by akiko clothing, which is apparently expensive. i got my dresses for about 70% off the normal price. the inner cheap and chinese-ness emerged and I bought two (not depicted here.)
Interestingly enough, the majority of the pieces were made of a nice soft jersey material. it seems like all my clothes are made of soft jersey material so these dresses fit right in.
This is a "Glamorous Cat Wig." Unlike the stereotype of unmarried women throughout the LA area, I do not own a cat. But if I had one I would definitely buy it a glamorous cat wig. I wonder what would stop the cat from chewing on the cat wig? The cat wig here reminds me of Gwen Stefani during the "Return of Saturn" era. HA! It'll have your cat wishing for a "Simple Kind of Life." (via halianka)
Further, what if your cat has an embarrassing comb over? Or what if your cat has cat pattern baldness? The cat wig is a viable option for those folically challenged.
Check out this product available at Urban Outfitters. This is girly enough to satisfy the February doldrums and a bit edgy surprisingly enough. Victoria Beckham would buy it if she only had $10.00 USD.
to perm or not to perm . . . that is the question on this woman's mind. I mentioned to my friend that I had to cut out of his party early because i had to make the crucial decision about whether to perm my hair the next morning, and if so- which type of perm to get? It's a big decision. When he heard I was getting a perm he immediately was thinking "tight poodle perm" Those make me puke. The Japanese Digital Perm is now the only perm for me!
There are several Japanese perms on the market currently: the straight perm, the natural wave, and the digital perm. I will discuss each in turn.
The straight perm will do something like a j-lo effect (circa 2001) it makes it super straight without a straight iron. A couple of my friends have had this done and they have liked it.
The natural wave is a crunchy perm. It gives a big curl which is curlier wet than it is dry and requires product to retain its shape My thanks to "fashiontabulous" from whom i stole this picture. Your curls are defined and each one is very distinct. Each lock seems to curl independently giving a reasonable amount of volume even when your hair is "light" or thinned out by the cut that you get.
The digital perm is my new favorite. It's more expensive (of course) but it's so complicated and so perfect that it's worth it. There are a lot of steps to the perm, you get conditioned, you can get normal perm solution on your banges, the rest of your head is curled with very heavy curlers with a metal rod inside. The rod is plugged in to a cord, the cord is then plugged in to a perming contraption, the contraption needs its own power strip to avoid blowing a fuse. The curlers then heat up. I mean really hot! My salon uses a neoprene skin guard under each curler to avoid getting a steam burn (or electrocution) They were very careful to repeatedly tell me if I got hot I should tell them. This was scary! They then brought me a Coke with ice. The heat causes the perm solution to evaporate. Your stylist leaves it on for abut 20 min and then undoes the curls. You then look like Shirley Temple until they relax it. What you're left with is big loose curls that are visible just by using a hair dryer and twisting your hair in the right way. It's just like if you had spent an extra 30 min curling it with a barrel curler or a curling iron. A good example of the results is this picture. Not that everyone will look like Yu Yamada when you're done with the perm, but we can all hope.
Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Bacon chocolate chip cookies- (this is for a FULL batch)
3/4 cup butter(It has been suggested that using 1 full cup of butter works best due to cookie dough dryness) 2/3 cup packed brown sugar 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon hazelnut (or almond) extract *Edit- It has been suggested that the almond flavouring may be overpowering to the flavour of the cookie, feel free to add this ingredient to taste* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 egg (It has been suggested that using 2 eggs works best due to cookie dough dryness) 2 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup white chocolate chips 1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 cups bacon bits (if preferred, you can separate the dough into two parts and only make half of the dough into bacon cookies, in which case you'll only want to use 1 cup bacon bits)
*An important note- Be sure to use real bacon bits, not Bacos *See large print at the bottom of this post*
Also, you can make your own bacon bits, just make sure you pat down the bacon chunks with paper towels to remove as much extra bacon grease as possible. *Edit* one of my readers made their own bacon bits and found out that apparently it takes about 2lbs of bacon to make 2 cups of bacon bits, just for future reference.
Directions-
preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
Beat together the butter, sugars, flavouring and eggs until creamy. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir together. Dough will be slightly soft. If you want a cakier cookie, add another half cup of flour. Add in chocolate chips and bacon bits. Stir until well integrated. Place dough on a sheet of waxed paper and refrigerate at least an hour. Remove dough from fridge, pinch off 1 1/2 inch pieces of dough and roll into balls. Set dough balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten dough balls slightly with your fingers in the center.
Bake cookies for about 10 minutes, or until the dough starts to turn golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on a cooling rack while you ready the glaze.
Maple cinnamon glaze-
2 cups powdered sugar 1 tablespoon maple extract 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon cinnamon *edit- it has been suggested that 1 teaspoon may be a bit much, so go ahead and add to taste* enough water to make a thick glaze (I used about 3 tablespoons)
Mix all ingredients together until smooth and creamy. If lumpy, use a whisk.
Spread a small amount of the glaze on the top of each cookie and top with a small piece of crisp cooked bacon.
It may be a little late but . . . Halloween weekend I attended the Vegoose 2007 festival in Las Vegas Nevada. This was by far the longest I've ever traveled to go see a show. (that is if you don't count DJ Mitsu in Japan, but I was living there, and traveled approx six miles) The highlight of the show was Rage Against the Machine. I was delighted to be able to yell the lyrics to "Bomb Track" but appalled to hear DeLaRocha edit Guerrilla Radio. I want to be able to scream disparaging things about Americana in front of Suburban America! But alas, it was not meant to be. Seeing Morello play guitar solos really made my day. I feel like I can die a happy girl. For a man whose favorite songs include labor union songs never meant to be played . . . that man sure can play! It's great to be able to openly and notoriously enjoy Rage. I was hiding tapes of their music in high school. You were kinda a hippie if you liked them in college. Now they're considered "classic." But when did they get so cool?
Other notables: Muse and the Public Enemy v. Cypress Hill DJ Battle. Notable for a different reason: The Shins. someone on stage kept on making this crazy dinosaur noise like a raptor zeroing in on its prey. Also Flava Flaaaaaaaave!
Hey readers, I would check out the whole article, but this clip gives the flavor of it. It is regarding the Hooters waitress who got kicked off a Southwest flight for her miniskirt. She did a photo shoot for Playboy. Was paid under 6 figures for the shoot. Also she aspires to be an attorney. Why?
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