say CHEESE!

my sister is visiting from mexico city. I've spoken of her before. she's rad. so smart. so silly. in addition to being an editor for a think tank with the world trade organization out of geneva switzerland, she is a foodie with a food blog and a culinary radio show on public radio out of switzerland entitled 'caitlin's kitchen'. what better way to show a foodie a good time but by taking them to a grilled cheese contest!? I had read about the grilled cheese invitational in several papers and heard their announcements on NPR. however, with all of the press they did, there was no mention of a location. turns out, this group of grilled cheesers are quite the Illuminati. they choose to keep the location a secret so as only the diehard grilled cheese fans will find it. caitlin and I were steadfast on eating that cheese so we took to the streets and after several stops on the web, we took a drive over to the cheese store of silverlake. we walked in calmly showing no signs of the hope we held inside. 'do u know the location of the grilled cheese initiative?', I asked an employee. with a chesire cat smile, she replied with a very clear she knew where it was, 'nope'. thwarted! the shop owner overheard our request and came over with the address xeroed on the back of a piece of paper. he carefully slipped it to us and disappeared back amongst the roquefort and camembert. eureka! we got it. we rushed to the car with little time to spare and made our way to griffith park where the contest was being held. as we walked from our car to the clearing we saw hundreds of people dressed in orange and outrageous costumes. there was a mad max-style thunderdome set up in the round with the chefs in the cooking up their cheesy creations in the middle and then around that were the hundreds of visitors who act as judges. when a new sandwich comes off the pan, the person or part of the group yelling and chanting 'CHEESE' the loudest will be awarded with a sample to judge. upon getting a sandwich , there is a ballot attached to the paper plate in which you judge the grilled cheese on presentation, cheesiness, uniqueness of ingredients and of course, how it tasted. we screamed for cheese as loud as we could and ended up with a lovely pecorino with truffles, an undercooked american, a gloppy and oily cheddar and a pizza-like mozz with oregano. after several pieces and several hours of shouting we were wiped out. on the way to the car, we dreamt up which ingredients we would use to take the grand prize. but we can't tell you that here. you'll have to find it for yourself next year.

house call

last night I attended the 'after the flood: building on a higher ground' exhibition at the museum of architecture and design on wilshire. co-sponsored by brad pitt and his make it right foundation, the traveling exhibition is a series of architectural blueprints of homes that can be built in new orleans in the wake of hurricane katrina. all houses are sustainable and come equipped to brave the strongest of winds and water. it is a spectacular undertaking and the night was beautiful (including the new orleans caramel turtles they passed around for dessert). yummo.

pink flamingo

Can't afford a CHANEL suit? Try a limited edition Le Vernis Nail Color - to some it's just as chic. Do you recall the vampy dripping dark red that Uma Thurman wore in Pulp Fiction almost a decade ago? Of course you do. It was Chanel's Vamp and it instantly became part of our polish pop culture. How about last year's pandomium that followed Chanel's Black Satin polish? Before the store's were stocked up, the limited edition color had sold out. Each season, Chanel comes out with a Limited Edition color that sells for $19 a bottle and you can you bet your twice monthly Mani/Pedi that the color sells out before the season even starts. Right now, Chanel Le Vernis Nail Color is offering a Limited Edition Blue Satin for Spring 2008 but this month the Summer 2008 collection is released and with it, a bright pink polish named Flamingo and the frosted golden-brown, Antilope.

be the change

did you see american idol gives back last night? it was incredibly moving and gave my hope, hope that small change (literally and figuratively) from one person can make a big difference. I gave, did you? www.americanidol.com

l.a. happenings from la.com

I just received a newsletter from la.com’s clotheshoarse blog and figured I would share with you these fun fashion Hollywood happenings...

New Trouble in Old Chinatown April 5
Get on the front lines of Downtown's gentrification from 10pm-2am at Mountain Bar on April 5. Fashion-forward art crew The Status Faction is partnering with our Eastside source for the hippest threads from across the pond, Welcome Hunters, to showcase its newest works. Witness the creation of live art while DJs Phylo, Sara T, Biff Chitlins and Toks provide the tunes. Free, open to the public and, of course, LA.com sponsored.

The Way We Wore Pop-Up Store Through May 15
Vintage designer duds at 60-95% off, with dresses starting at $22 and most prices ranging from $40-$60. Kids vintage is now available too.

The Warehouse Sale April 5-6
Sat.-Sun., 10am-4pm. The mega denim sale is back offering 80% of Rock & Republic, Diesel, True Religion, Frankie B, Genetic Denim, Citizens of Humanity, 575 Denim, J Brand. Christian Audigier, et al. RSVP at: www.thewarehousesale.com

Last Chance Boutique Winter Clearance
This Culver City boutique is clearing out its winter wear with 50-80% off designers like Cynthia Vincent, Phillip Lim, Diabless and even 40-65% off new spring arrivals.

Costume Exhibit at the Gamble House April 13-June 8
FIDM and the Gamble House are pairing up to showcase costumes from the Fashionable dress movement which pays homage to the era (circa 1908) the historic house was built.

Blowdry 101 at Borrelli Beverly Hills May 7
Wed., 6:30pm. On the first Wednesday of every month Borrelli Beverly Hills offers classes teaching you how to blowdry your own hair like a pro. Bring along your stying tools and dry your hair as usual and a stylist will correct you as you go. A fee of $20 per person includes a shampoo, a lesson,a product kit and cocktails.

somebody's getting married

It’s that time of the year when flowers are blooming and friends are getting married. my good friend, bree is getting hitched in june and to celebrate her family held a sweet bridal shower at their house in malibu. it was such a lovely sunday afternoon with good friends, homemade cupcakes and oodles upon oodles of fun registry gifts from crate and barrel with a few naughty pieces thrown in. who knew urban outfitters made such cute lingerie? I went with a bedside carafe as a gift. I love the classy look next to the bed and it certainly comes in handy when you’re thirsty at night. cheers to a lifetime of love for my funny and fabulous friend bree (and her husband to be, justin). as an extra added bonus, bree just got cast opposite katherine heigel in their newest flick, so watch for it in the near future.

alpha cuppa vodka

my good friends at bollare PR threw a fab party tonite for alpha gear for men sponsored by the GQ men we love issue and bacardi vodka at villa melrose. me and wendi donned our little black dresses and headed out. alpha gear for men is a very groovy store on melrose filled with fun gentleman goodies of the lifestyle brand. the bacardi was a-flowin’ and the boys were too. my fave celeb spotting was joel mchale from E!'s the soup. he funny. I saw lots of ol’ friends (like fellow stylist jordan pictured above) and made new ones. good times thanks to GQ.

april HSN is now live!

hey fashion friends -

my newest blog on spring colors and trends and how to wear them is now live at:
http://www.hsn.com/spring-color-trends-blogs_g-63_xg.aspx

please click the link and comment on the HSN site if you like what you see.
love, jess

road tested. stylist approved.

can a pair of forever 21 jeans stand the test of wear and tear and time with 40 hours of cross-country travel? yes, they can! I had a busy day tuesday starting off with slipping on my new pair of high waisted forever 21 jeans that I picked up at the hollywood&highland mall. I figured if I’m going with something trendy like high-waisted might as well spend as little as possible. headed to work for the day, from work to school (jeans. good. check), headed from school to airport. hopped 11:45 red eye from LAX TO JFK and arrived in NYC at 7am (jeans. good. check). had 10am breakfast meeting with my book agent, 11:30 coffee with potential associate and ol’ friend jaime hochauser, lunch meeting in tribeca with spaceman media and finally met my mom (who thankfully had the car so I didn’t have to lug around the jeans annnnd all of my luggage in the rain - jeans. good. check.) we headed to century 21 in my forever 21 jeans (if you’ve never heard of century 21, it is a MUST STOP SHOP in NYC) got bombarded by couture-crazy crazies, went for dinner at island burgers and shakes where I ordered my bud barzel’s namesake burger (stomach. happy and full. jeans. good. check.), headed to the theatre to see curtains with david hyde pierce which was thoroughly entertaining, got in car and headed back to long island still looking fabulous in my forever 21 jeans from the day before. good. check.

new website!!

hey ya'll - come on over to www.jess-zaino.com - I've been blogging from there plus posted new pix, press, videos and much more! If you bring the dip, I've got the chips!! xo, jess

ladies in red

did ya just catch the oscars? I live not one mile from the kodak theatre where the show is held, so I was lucky enough to the peep the red carpet arrivals as they came in. even though marion cotillard may have one the best actress award, I believe the real honours go to john galliano for dior. he had some smoking dresses on the nominees. my favorite look was the unique and fresh fashions of juno screenwriter, diablo cody. watch out world - glamour has a new name. also noted were the fantastic pops of candy apple red on the likes of katherine heigl, helen mirren, anne hathaway, miley cyrus and heidi klum, even ruby dee in a kevan hall creation. red is always a color to watch and wear for noticeable glamour. also to watch was the absolute simplicity of the accessories. I loved the single strands of diamonds, the lone diamond cuffs and the enormous ring that nominee tilda swinton rocked. we musn't forget the men either. I was a big fan of the boys in bowties but could've done without daniel day lewis' 80's era earrings. congrats all. I'm off to find madonna's afterparty.

any given saturday in beverly hills

so saturday started out with a lovely breakfast with friend and author barbra horowitz to discuss big style business for the year ahead. over a yummy organic meal at mani's on fairfax we decided to hit up the last of the oscar suites in bev hills to scope more tinseltown treats. we headed over to the four seasons on wilshire only to be told there was no suite, only a bat mizvah. better late than never? not in this case.

oscar sweets

its academy award weekend in los angeles and everyone is abuzz with oscar fevah. I headed over to the TMG/CUUR suites over at the bev hills hilton to see what goodies were in store for the oscar celebs. I was impressed by the sword (ummm, yeah, I got a freeking martial arts sword) and wushu stunt lesson provided by impact stunts. I can't wait to learn more about it and will for sure keep you posted. in the fashion lounge was a fab new featured denim line, plush. really soft cotton made of italian and japanese denim and a fit that covers all sizes of fanny. I loved the light wash boot cut and look forward to checking out their black skinny jean. also in the fashion lounge was bag line mimieki who's luxurious materials of stingray and peacock feather was not so much in line with the green theme of the lounge but waaaay appealing to any girl who loves luxury. I am a HUGE fan of their buttery sahara satchel bag. tomorrow I am heading over to the four seasons for a sneak peak at some more yummy. will keep you posted.

hare

my stylist andi over at byu-ti gave me this recent blunt bang cut with cool rock n' roll highlights. I'm loving the of the moment style and coloring of the look. feel free to steal it for yourself. xxoo.

where'd she go?

sorry I haven't been posting folks, life took off and with it my ability to whip up something trendy. life took off, you ask? ah, yes but in a much more responsible way then you can imagine. I've decided to go back to school and started last week at santa monica college. with both classes in business and fashion, I am enriching, educating and preparing myself for the second phase of Jess Zaino. In addition, I have been helping out my man Saundi with some fun vocal tracks. Disclaimer: I, in no way am pursuing a music career. I just happened to be a willing participant to my genius bfriend's production skills. As soon as I figure out how to post an mp3, I'll get it to you hot and fresh.

what are YOU wearing this valentine's day?

will u be dressing up nice for someone special today (even if it's yo'self that is someone nice)? well come on over to my hsn fashion column for the simple sexy tips of how to dress your best for a date. p.s. it would be an extra special v-day for me, if you would comment ON THE HSN COMMENT BOARD. thanks kindly lovebug!

universal heartbeat

this is HIGH-larious. I was on youtube searching for a love song to post to my special v-day myspace profile and came across a juliana hatfield video I was in from 1995. can u spot me at 17 years old?

fall 2008 fashion week

forgive this trendster for not making a peep during new york's fall 2008 show of fashion week but I was tre busy and watching from afar to get a true sense of who my favorites were. no surprise that oscar de la renta hits it out of the fashion field every time. I was very impressed with the fresh and polished looks that came down the tommy hilfiger runway. and I love the edge of rock n' repbulic and adam + eve. its fall, so expect lots of creams, caramels, naturals, blacks and purple.

grammy weekend

the grammys are happening tonite which means hollywood has been hopping all week long with grammy parties. last night s. and I hit up the rock the vote private party thrown by the roots at the key club on sunset. my producer bud damon passed over his all-access passes for the event allowing me and s. to get down with the east coasters in a west coast funk fest. not only were we treated to an open bar but there were star sightings galore from ryan phillipe and gfriend abby cornish to missy elliott, raven simone, will.i.am, even buddha from this past season's I love new york. the music performances were incredible and we got to see jam sessions with ?estlove, fall out boy, doug e. fresh, corinne bailey rae, travis barker and SEAL!!? up and comers J*davey threw it down and we ended up leaving at 4am when the joint was still jumping. only on hollywood.

DJ RED 5 at Zanzibar

Last night Saundi DJ'd Zanzibar. He plays some smooooove music. As a result he picked up a monthly at Little Temple in Santa Monica happening the first Wednesday of each month. I sure hope you can make the next one. Things are going to get sexy!