TRY SOMETHING NEW: CALLIGRAPHY AND MARTINIS
[+ THE MOST DELICIOUS MARTINI RECIPE EVER]

May. 24, 2013
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CalligraphyLast week I hosted my first local event on behalf of this blog. It’s something I’ve been toying around with for a while — sort of in an attempt to help bring some of you local lurkers out of the lurky woodwork to talk to me, and sort of in an attempt to force myself to start getting out and trying some of the new things that I always think I want to do but never get around to. You know, the kind of stuff that might be on a life list if I was anywhere near organized enough to keep a life list.

So it was like kismet when Smirnoff (yes, the Vodka folks) reached out and asked if they could treat some friends and I to a day of trying something new to celebrate the release of their Sorbet Light Vodka. (Tastes great, less filling calories, you know the drill.) I didn’t even hesitate. I was like: “Heck yeah. I’ve been wanting to learn Calligraphy since I missed that Melissa Esplin class at Alt Summit. Let’s do it.”

SmirnoffSorbetArmed with a crate of Vodka and my favorite Martini Glasses I invited a very small group of real life friends, fellow bloggers, and long time readers to take a class at the amazing Art Works Studio in Larchmont with my life-long friend and soul sister Alex Asher Sears of Type A Calligraphy (if you’re an internet type, you may also know her as @alexandrawrote). Alex does beautiful work that I’ve been jealous of like this:

e99646c4811f1ad67d0407b29df7281fSo I was obviously thrilled when she agreed to share her secrets. (Why yes, that is my daughter’s personalized gift tag in the bottom left corner. Available HERE.)

AlexWritesYou guys? I highly recommend pairing this activity with a girls night (or a guy’s night, if any dudes are still reading this). We stepped away from our digital lives and did something totally analog for two solid hours. It was zen. It was cathartic.

FruitPlate{For more pictures from the event, you can visit Andrea, Laura, and Mindy.}

And in the process, I’ve found my new favorite Martini recipe ever:

SmirnoffMangoA big huge thanks for Smirnoff for sponsoring my sweet Calligraphy party.

Happy almost Memorial Day!

Feed Me Seymour

T-Minus One Month: How’s That Purging Going?

May. 23, 2013
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It’s Thursday again, and if you’ve been sticking to our pact then you have purged 315 pieces of crap from your life. Congratulations, by the way.

If you haven’t been purging like you promised yourself you would — I totally feel you. I mean, I’ve purged every day if piling things by your front door or in your storage area qualifies as purging, BUT IT DOESN’T. Let’s not fool ourselves. I’ve mostly just been moving stuff around.

But that’s okay. I still have 28 days to make good on my promise to eliminate 450 items from my life by June 21st. To get my head in the de-cluttering game, I picked up a book on Space Clearing through Feng Shui which turned out to be just the ticket.

ClearClutter {available via Amazon}

Feng Shui sits atop the founding principle that all things, animate and inanimate, have energy — or as you may have heard it mocked in movies, “Chi”. Understanding Feng Shui allows you to harness the energy of everything in your home to help it to work for you rather than against you. It’s kind of like just after college when every few months I would realize that I was behind at work and my car was filled with crap and my room was a mess and I’d know it was time to clean up the physical crap so that I could get some mental space. I wasn’t practicing Feng Shui on purpose. It was just my natural instinct and it worked.

Turns out despite knowing next to nothing about Feng Shui when I bought this book (and a couple others, but I’m keeping it focused on the Crap Cutting for the moment) the philosophies Karen Kingston offers up are basically exactly what I’ve been blathering on about over all these Purgeday Thursdays. Karen calls it Space Clearing. I call it Crap Cutting. But the basic thought process is the same: Having too much crap messes with your life. Get rid of your crap, see results.

Karen also lays out these simple guidelines to define Clutter, or in this case Crap, and I found them CRAZY helpful as I’ve trickled to less than five items a day I think I’m willing to part with:

  • Things you do not use or love
  • Things that are untidy or disorganized
  • Too many things in too small a space
  • Anything unfinished

I mean, say hello to my 1100 square feet of living space with a torn up bathroom floor, a toilet in the bedroom (because of the torn up bathroom floor, not because we’re THAT lazy) and a 500 square foot basement jammed to the brim hoarder style. No wonder I’ve been having problems sorting out my Chi. It’s time to take this purging challenge in to overdrive.

So…how’s your Crap Cutting going? What are your secrets?

Feed Me Seymour

So, I’ve Been Thinking About The Shortcomings Of American Idol, And I Have Some Thoughts.

May. 20, 2013
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Bo&Me{Bo Bice asked to take a picture with me. What do you think about that?}

So, this is really kind of awkward. I mean, when you get invited by AT&T to experience in person an awesome musical spectacular that fourteen million people across America are watching from their couches, you kind of feel like the only thing to say is “Thank you!” and “That was amazing!”

But I can’t help myself. I’m an oversharer, and I haven’t missed an Idol finale since 2001. It’s pretty fair to say I’m an OG Idol fan. I mean, I was barely old enough to compete when I started watching the show from my New York apartment at 19 (the entry age was 18 way back then) and I’ve followed it through two states, four houses, a marriage, a baby, and right out the other side of the qualifying age range, with the oldest contestant now almost five years younger than me. (Not that I ever had designs on auditioning for American Idol, you do NOT want to hear this sing.) I’ve even seen a beloved high school classmate come thisclose to taking the crown herself. (#McPheever4EVA.) So it’s hard for me to squelch my opinions. Even when they’re not awesome. Even when I’m afraid it means I will never be invited back. (This was my second year attending the live finale — I also got to see Scotty McCreary take the title back in 2011.)

ScottyMcCreary{speak of the devil with the angel’s voice.}

In fact, I’ve been such a loyal Idol fan, that I straight up refused to watch The Voice for its first two seasons. (Which I obviously regret now that I’ve finally tuned in because The Voice is freaking awesome. Hot damn I love me a good undiscovered singer.)

IdolFire

So it is with a heavy heart that I have to admit, I understand why Idol had a 34% viewer drop off for it’s season finale this year. My list of grievances are as follows:

While I’m never one to wish anyone out of a job, American Idol needs to fire its entire creative team because the production itself SUCKS. AI in person ROCKED IT OUT. It always does. I’ve been to two finales (yes, I am proud enough to mention that twice in this post) and a top four show in season three and each and every time the quality of singers and the stage presence of these kids who have little to no experience doing it has blown me away FAR MORE in person that it ever has at home. (Yes, even this past Finale — Janelle Arthur, who I have never been a fan of on TV convinced me she was a bonafide star. Holy Wow.) And Kree singing with Keith and Randy supporting her musically was a total highlight. And Candice just about got me to switch #team hashtags when she nearly sang the inimitable Jennifer Hudson clean off the stage. But when I watched those same performances on the big screens at the after party all I could think was “Holy Moses, who is directing this mess and why can’t they get their shit together?” American Idol, take my advice: Find out who directed the main stage at Coachella this year and hire them instead — they had my eyes drifting to the monitors instead of the stage all weekend with their stunning shots and brilliant cuts. And they never once pulled up a camera that was focused on someone’s feet in the audience. I mean, WTF American Idol?

ArethaMy second grievance sits at the Judges table. (Although it was super emotional to be there for Randy’s last show after all these years. I kind of love the Big Dawg.) Keith Urban is by far the best of the bunch. Despite his 90s era K.D. Lang hair, I actually find him super sincere and his love of music shines through when he critiques the performances. I’ll even say the same thing about Mariah Carey. While I wish someone would strap her to a table and give her shock therapy until the word Darling is deleted from her vocabulary (and also she realizes she’s not twenty, what the hell is up with her latest video?) her talent is apparent and she and Keith actually gave quite a bit of solid, mentor-ly advice this season. Still, Keith can stay, but no amount of musical talent would make me want to put up with Mariah Carey for another minute, but more on that to come. Nikki Minaj is hilarious to watch in a train-wrecky way, and came across much more human than I ever expected but she really has no business on that panel. American Idol isn’t a fashion show and the contestants wardrobe was pretty much the only thing I ever heard her talk about.

photo copy 2Okay, NOW let’s talk about Mariah Carey. There is nothing relatable about that woman. And part of what makes The Voice so lovely is that the Judges are fun to watch. They may be superstars, but they’re also real people, and they let that show. Mariah Carey had three black-leather-clad makeup artists touching her up at each and every commercial break, despite not uttering a single word during the entire telecast. The only time she moved at all was when she pretended to go back stage for her performance, which was then abruptly aired only on the jumbo tron while the stage stood empty. Mimi remained backstage for another full performance for her fake reverse-back to costume, before re-emerging and sitting still for the rest of the night, which apparently required three to four additional hair and makeup touch ups. And the fact that she didn’t sing live? It just really got under my skin. Two years ago both J.Lo and Steven Tyler got on stage FOR REAL, and yes, in case your wonder, J.Lo was in the house for real again on Thursday night. I’ll cut Mariah a little slack and acknowledge that Keith Urban’s solo performance was also pre-taped, but he did get up on stage and play live with Kree and Randy, so I forgave him for it. Not Mariah. It’s lame to tell people that they’re watching one of the greatest voices of our time perform live when they’re simply not. Uncool, American Idol.

Still, I’ll be back for more next season. I’m interested to see if Old Faithful can put itself together. Maybe it’s time for an Idol Alum on the Judging Panel? I hear Reuben Studdard is available.

And now that I’ve examined every tooth in this gift horse’s mouth, I’ll end with a Thank You, American Idol. You really do put on one hell of a live show, and I had a great time.

IdolFinale

AT&T was kind enough to provide me with complimentary tickets and party passes for the Season 12 Idol Finale. All opinions are my own.

Feed Me Seymour

It’s Purgeday Thursday, But This Post Has Nothing To Do With That.

May. 16, 2013
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FlowersSometimes I pinch myself because I have a really fun job. I don’t know what my job is exactly these days, so I try to sum it up as “Storytelling” because Blog Posting, Screenwriting, Book Writing (did I tell you I’m working on a book about the psychology of Hair? Oh, we’ll have to get in to that sometime because I’m really psyched about it) and raising my daughter all have one thing in common — I’m trying to craft a beautiful narrative.

Man, that was kind of cheesy. But I’m standing by it. As my thirty-second birthday approaches, I’m really working to embrace my cheesiness rather than be ashamed of those dorky tendencies. I’ve always held coolness in high regard, but the older I get the more I realize that being cool all the time isn’t fun. Also I’m so off topic right now it’s not even funny.

stingThis week has been one of those weeks where life is moving faster than I am. Not in the bad way necessarily, it’s just I’m desperately trying to keep up in a week that’s seen a Sinus Infection (mine), Pink Eye (Dee’s), learning Calligraphy via a workshop that I hosted featuring the brilliantly talented Alexandra of Type A Calligraphy (more on that tomorrow, although some of our attendees have been quicker about recapping the evening than I have!), and will be silently praising the inventor of the Z-pack while I attend the American Idol Finale tonight on a girls date with my childhood best friend. Like Willy Wonka’s crazy boat this weekend shows no signs that it is slowing. And my lease is up so I have to get a new (used) car by Saturday afternoon.

ScissorsBut you know what I get to do after that? I get to take my new (used) ride on a little cross-town road trip to Valencia for the grand opening of it’s newest neighborhood where I will do probably the funnest thing I’ve ever done and called work ever. I’m unplugging to spend the day at KB Home’s Charleston River Village All-American Street Fair doing a craft workshop with kiddos and parents alike while chowing down on hot dogs and frozen lemonade. I’m even hoping to coerce my own family in to coming along for the fun.

FeltCraftsYou may not know this because I’m the worst blogger ever, but I have a massive arsenal of low-mess crafts and art projects that keep Delilah busy when I have to get work done during a day she’s home with me. I collect kids art supplies like a hoarder suffering from crafters cleptomania and tend to troll the clearance aisles at Target, Aaron Bros. and Joanne’s for deals on toddler-friendly craft ideas. If you’re an LA local, you are totally welcome to join — I’ll be focusing on felt crafts and cowboy hats, sharing some of my favorite ideas for creative kiddos, both things you can do together, and things you can set them up with when you need a few more minutes of quiet to finish your work day, like I so often do.

FeetThe 40-50 minute Workshop will kick off on Saturday at 2pm, so if you’d like to join, plan to arrive a little before then so we can say hi!

(For more on KB’s Charleston River Village, check out the event details HERE.)

Feed Me Seymour

I’m Sorry, I Can’t Stop Talking About My Hair.

May. 15, 2013
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ImageI know I just posted about the emotional side of my hair last week, but ULTA Beauty sent me this massive box of hair supplies in honor of their “Love Your Hair” event and really, how could I not talk about ALL OF THESE INCREDIBLE THINGS? (Okay not all of them – I only have two inches of hair total — but the very best of them? You bet your butt.)

aeecbd3cb34611e2866d22000a9f137d_7Before I went for the Pixie, people kept warning me that having short hair was going to be higher maintenance than having long hair which I could just toss in a ponytail. And I was of course like: whatever. So then of course “they” turned out to be right, and I had to [quickly] figure out how to make my low-maintenance-hair actually low-maintenance.

Enter ULTA Beauty’s giant box of love.

IMG_5290Ahhh, I a tiny 1/2 inch ceramic flat iron from Hot Tools was just the ticket to banish bedhead (or as we call it in my house, chicken-butt head.) So I’m grateful for that. Also since I bleached my hair five times over to get it white enough to take this color, Chi’s Iron Guard helps it from completely disintegrating.

IMG_5311I swear by Rusk for color treated hair. I’m psyched to try the 34545235452 color-protective products they sent me, but I was mostly just thrilled to get two economy-sized bottles of the product that is already my go to for maintaining color. Also it smells delicious.

IMG_5309

My final favorite find from ULTA Beauty’s box of hair magic? In order to preserve my color, I try to only wash my hair on days I work out. That means things like dry shampoo come in really handy. (I know, gross.)

GAH I love this giant box of fun. Everything in it (including the stuff I featured above) will be available as a Daily Steal during the 21 day Love Your Hair event.

Hair is the greatest, isn’t it?! If you have a Pixie Cut, I hope you find some of these things as life-altering as I do. If you have more hair than I do, you might want to take the #ULTAHairPledge to love your hair for a chance to win a year of free blow-outs. (Tweet your hair pledge with the aforementioned hashtag after 5/12 to be eligible.)

And thanks to BlogHer and ULTA Beauty, I have a $100 gift card to ULTA stores (brick and mortar or Internet) for one of you. Leave me a comment telling me what you love most about your hair, and I’ll pick a winner at random on June 1.

Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.  

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. 

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/15/13 – 6/1/13.

Be sure to visit the ULTA Beauty page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Feed Me Seymour