the san francisco treat

I'm in san fran right now. came up monday to shoot the look for less. went out for dinner and fun times with chip and pepper. they are some serious havers of fun. their jeans (and new line of vintage track suits) ain't bad neither. had a great time working with yoanna. the haight is a faaaaab place for vintage finds. my fave place was crossroads. it had the best designer vintage for the most inexpensive prices. wasteland was too overpriced and buffalo exchange didnt have a good selection. we ended up rocking the designer looks for well under $100. gosh, I love when that happens. I really love this city. its urban and chill. the street fashions aren't anything to post home about. lots of gap, hippie ish and basic commuter couture, messanger bags. I didn't have a coat so I had to get before coming up here. I found a cute faux fur hoodie puffer thingee by apollos jeans outerwear at marshalls for $25. Its kept me warm and I've got a ton of comments on it so it goes to show you the look for less can always look good!

gobble gobble, son

I can do some serious marinatin' on posting to my blog here. How was turkey day for you? Mine was stuffed (pun intended) with lots of food and fun friends! What is appropriate attire for Thanksgiving? It is a holiday so I always find it necessary to dress up a bit but when the day is centered around eating pounds of carbs and sugar, I think sweatpants should be the official outfit du jour. I'm not into Juicy-like tracksuits, but I am a major fan of Adidas and other English or Japanese imports. I also love the look of the Victoria's Secret PINK line. Here's a tip for you though, head to the nearest pharmacy and pick up a pair of sweatpants for $5. to cut, roll down, one leg up, whatever. Its way cooler and way cheap! I was on set for an Omarion/Marques Houston movie a couple of weeks ago and everyone on set was rocking the sweatpants over pants over boxers look. weird. is that the new hip-hop hotness or what?

she's crafty

I came up with a brilliant idea for an ellegirl or teen vogue magazine page. its a comic strip with live-action pictures featuring a celebrity doing something crafty. I created a "pitch" strip a couple of months ago with the teen girl-pop band, the valli girls. they were young and cute and at the time could've gone somewhere. I always thought about what they were up to. well, last night I was at the laugh factory with my very funny friend, dwayne perkins, who was performing and dane cook got up and performed. dane cook is hilarious. I've seen him a couple of times now and have his albums. really funny stuff. after the show, we were sort of hanging around with him and the others and there was the lead singer and another band mate from the valley girls. apparently, the lead singer, raquel is dane's girlfriend. now this may not seem like any news at all and its really not but it was confusingly amusing to see this chick who fronts a teen band, swigging drinks at the laugh factory bar. hollywood is great!

lohan and leto?

what's up with little girls trying to get hitched? why can't they celebrate themselves and their individuality and have fun and be young? if you find your true love at a young age and you're sure, that's cool but the competition in hollywood to get a man as an accessory or revenge tactic is bananas. I am a staunch believer in the 'don't get married until after 30' way of life...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916539/

a whole new world

Yesterday blew my mind. Me and my new BFF (we'll call her Gail), Gail have been planning for her husbands birthday party which happens this weekend (yippee!). As a result, we've had to run around town tying up the final details. This is a very long and arduous process that includes many breakfasts, lunches, coffee breaks and misc. shopping. I was introduced to so many new and fun and exciting L.A. spots yesterday that I had to share em. As a New Yorker, I am limited in my view of what's cool in L.A. After two and a half years, Gail showed me the way...............

After some heavy lifting of liquor from BevMo (always ask for Aaron. he's the best!), we had breakfast/lunch/brunch at Ed's on Robertson. We also stopped into Closetry to say hello to Mark-Alan but he wasnt around. Then it was over to Boule for a Mexican Hot Chocolate with Cinnamon Marshmallow. It was up the block from Trashy Lingerie and since we are throwing a 1980's Rock n Roll party, Gail needed a rocking outfit that was only worthy of the Trashy Lingerie name. Finally, a stop into Party on La Cienega for the 10 lbs. of ONLY green M&Ms. I went home after that for a quick nap and trip to the gym and met up with Gail and husband afterwards for dinner at Greenblatt's, which is so my new fave place. Home run and comfy, they have the best matzo ball soup I've ever tasted.

helping the world one girl at a time

This was an email exchange I had this morning with a new young lady friend. I'm posting it because I want the world to know that I am focused and interested in making the world a better place, even if that includes helping one girl out there feel better about who she is as a female and person...

Hey Girl --
Thanks for writing. I am proud to say I can help others help themselves. Media can be so tough on women and its hard to accept yourself when as a female, the expectations to look "beautiful and skinny" are so high. I say we break that now! I am happy with who I am and am much more interested in someones character than their outward appearance. You seem really cool. It must have been tough to grow so fast so young but that's what makes you special, so F em all and stand tall (pun intended!). Thanks again. xoxoxoxoxoox. Jess

---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 00:28:03 -0500

Jess,
(if this even gets to you) I just wanted to say thank you. I am sure you hear this all the time but you are so damn cute and seem like a little fireplug!!! I bet your the type of person that just lights up a room...lol im not hitting on you promise, im a straight girl..i just wanted to write you and tell you thank u, i am sure u r going to get to one girl...be a role model to atleast one girl in ur lifetime...and well truthfully thats amazing..u just seem so incredibly ok with ur own skin...there arent many girls especially in the media that are..and u just give that aura that u have this self esteem that many of us lack. Ive spent my entire life trying to be secure with myself..tryin to accept me as much as i accept others that come in my path...i , probably spent a childhood much like urs...i am the opposite of u , i am 6'2..at the age of 9 i was a 5'9 girl...not an easy feeling as im sure uve dealt with in ur lifetime and ive always struggled with my weight and with diets...i am 22 and have finally begun to accept my self for all that i am..i just wanted to thank u , u r changing girls throught the world one girl at a time!

how do I look?

I've been shooting How Do I Look this week for the Style Network. Things have come a looong way since the first season I was on. They've rented a house in the hills to appear as Finola's House of Style type thing. Sort of like ANTM's House of Top Model but minus the midwest runaways and the judgement... well, the judgement actually stays. This time around, I've nominated the victim. Its my friend Irene Vaksberg who owns the Vaksberg Salon in West Hollywood and who is the premier hair artist of Los Angeles in my humble opinion. I dont let anyone else feck with my 'do. I'm the show Stylist, along with the accomplices who are my good friend Andi and Irene's daughter Monica, It was pretty rough yesterday as we had to tell her why she needed a makeover and what bad style she has. It's never easy to tell someone, especially your good, kind, selfless friend, those things. She cried and for the first time on teevee, I did too. what a sap I am . anyhoo, Finny's looking fab as usual. We'll be doing our shopping today to buy the collections for Irene's new look. We get $1200 to shop for the day at the Beverly Center. This is my favorite part!!!

coke is the new black

Popular Snowman T-Shirt Raises Concerns

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By DESMOND BUTLER Associated Press Writer

November 05,2005 | NEW YORK -- One of the hottest-selling T-shirts around the country shows a simply drawn snowman with a menacing expression.

It's not Frosty's evil twin. The image popularized by drug-dealer-turned-rapper Young Jeezy symbolizes those who sell a white substance known on the street as snow: cocaine.

Anti-drug campaigners and education officials are alarmed, saying the T-shirt and others like it are part of sophisticated marketing campaigns using coded symbols for drug culture that parents and teachers are not likely to understand. Some schools are banning kids from wearing the snowman images.

"The snowman is made of white, grainy stuff like sugar," said 12-year-old seventh-grader Mailik Mason, standing next to his mother in a Manhattan store selling the snowman shirts. "It has to do with a certain drug, crack or coke."

Young Jeezy's hit debut album, "Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101," peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard album charts. On one of his songs he raps, "Get it? Jeezy the Snowman / I'm iced out, plus I got that snow, man."

winter, spring, summer, fall

I'm sort of not into paying my rent this month. I have this self-destructive streak that shows itself in the weirdest of places -- sometimes guys, sometimes drinking... and now my senseless lack of respect for housing authourity? I'm living on the edge maaaan. me and aerosmith. my new favorite friend and her husband have invited me up to the four seasons in santa barbara this weekend for spa treatments, champagne breakfasts and a def lepard concert!? I'd rather throw my dough on that fun stuff that the annoyingly stable monthly staple of paying rent. perhaps if I bring back my landlord a 1987 hysteria t-shirt we can call it even. if you're looking for good band tees and stuff, there is a great place on the boardwalk in venice that sells cute D.I.Y. rock prints and of course there is always lo-fi on la brea, but I'd rather listen to a loop of hansons mmmmbop than pay $125. for a vintage rock tee. p.s. I've got a hanson rock tee. it's one of my favorites. also check out michele marcombe's collection of unique handbags, swimwear, dogwear, and baby bags created from authentic music/concert T-shirts, beach towels, and tuxedo shirts. cheers cheers. rock on, lovey.

is that a dog in your pants?

I was recently hired to style a lingerie calendar photo shoot for the North Shore Animal League to benefit the animal victims of Hurricane Katrina. It is a faaaab cause annnd I grew up a couple of miles from the North Shore Animal League in New York so I was very happy to donate my time and services. I was hired over the weekend so I only had one day to pull lingerie for the shoot and since I had to leave for Lake Arrowhead to interview Omarion yesterday afternoon, I didnt have much time at all. Enter the awesome people at Michael Antonio Shoes. Evelyn Lugo came thru like a champ, piling in 10 pairs of awesome Michael Antonio shoes and boots and shipping them out overnight for my morning shoot today. I also got to pull some very glam jewelry from Dare2Diamond that came from New York last night and got here this morning as well. Finally, the piece de resistance of the shoot was the unbelievable lingerie I was able to pull at the glamorous and ever helpful Faire Frou Frou on Ventura in Studio City. This mother/daughter business team of lingerie shop owners were so happy and helpful and the best part was, their selection of pieces rivaled any Agent Provacateur or La Perla. I came away with beautiful John Galliano pieces, La Perla to die for and so much more. I had the shoot today and it was a bit beastial and confusing to see a half-naked model frolicking with a dog in a bar, but those lovely lingerie pieces and the wonderful people at Faire Frou Frou and the awesome photog Daniel O'Neill (and the good cause of course) made it all worthwhile!! Woof.

somebody help me

It was a hot Halloween night in Hollywood as several unsuspecting journalists piled into a van and headed up to Lake Arrowhead to the horror movie set of Somebody Help Me, directed by Chris Stokes and starring rap star, Omarion. Three hours in bumper to bumper traffic and up a very windy and steep cliff of a road to interview Omarion for j-14 Magazine. If I learned anything from my tour days, its that the best thing to do on a long ride is to sleep. Which is what I did. Professional? Uh, maybe not. But that ride was loooong and I wasn't in the mood to make friends. We got up into the Big Bear mountains and pulled up to a cabin where the cast and crew of Somebody Help Me have been living for the past month shooting. We waited a couple of hours before Omarion showed up stealing the set apricots and kicking it with the crew but once O did show, he did he was waaaay nice and energetic and accomodating. We got to sit down in one of the back bedrooms and have our journalistic way with him. He is all about entertaining and to building a good business for the future of young people in film. I hope he goes far. Watch for the film and for the article. Coming soon.