NOOOO

AHHHHHHH

Tibor de Nagy Gallery

Rudy Burckhardt, "Parking Lot, 1970, oil on linen

feng shui!

Just picked myself up a mini dressor (26X14X30)from the 1970's on Houston and Bowery!
I will post a picture soon or you guys can come over to see it. We checked out the roof today and its really open and sunny. we totally need to have a BBQ! This french dude who got to NYC last week helped me carry my new furniture carry to the curb and waited 15 minutes for a cab with me. He said he would like to offer me a drink which was quite peculiar language for the Bowery!

I keep seeing these ads on the subway for NYC Bike Month. Check it out here!
I almost bought a bike today but both my dad and my bf say its too dangerous!

Is NYC bike friendly enough?

Some of my favorite fashion inspirations from all over the world

A girl can dream, can't she? What if you had an around the world shopping ticket?

Before you take off in Manhattan:

http://otteny.com/shop

A quick overnight flight to Paris:

http://www.vanessabruno.com/

Lose a day/ gain a day? on your way to Japan:

http://www.americanragcie.co.jp/info/index.html

Take a quick trip Down Under:

http://www.sassandbide.com/home/index.html

Back across the Pacific to Argentina: what is the amazing song playing at the Pri Ver 2007 fashion show? Somebody please tell me!

http://www.maria-cher.com.ar/

Direct flight to LAX:

http://www.satineboutique.com

And back to New York

http://www.alexanderwang.com/alexander-wang.html

Don't wake me up....

Cokehead Chic at Barneys

While I generally think most of the line is underwhelming (as most NORMAL human beings do not have the the belly, or lack thereof, to pull off the three-year-old's jean vest look), I must must MUST have this one shoulder white dress. Anyone who helps me in my quest will receive a) one very kinky sexual favor b) the change in my wallet (trust me, it adds up to a good five bones) and c) permission to wear the dress for ONE WHOLE NIGHT!!!

Kate Moss's line for Top Shop will be officially available at Barneys New York on May 9th, with a private reception on the evening of May 8th (anyone who helps me get tickets to that will get all the above mentioned plus an additional sexual favor...I mean, let's face it, I don't really need incentive for that.) The line will be available through the Top Shop website (see above link) on April 30th, so if you're worried about availability try that route.

Help me help YOU!

Let the record state that I actually semi-despise Kate Moss, but am not beneath mooching off her style.

I'm having Blog amnesia. Did I post about this already?

Take Your Daughter to Work Day!

Today is the 15th annual Take Our Daughter to Work Day!
Check out this great organization here !
The organization has added a Take Our Sons to Work Day component as well. Looks like the boys got jealous!

When I was a mere grade schooler with an American Girl magazine influenced "GIRLS RULE" mindset, I looked forward to this day like no other. Each year, my sister and I would skip school t accompany my aunt, a buyer for Victoria's Secret catalogue to her company's headquarters in NYC for a day of professional fun! We would meet models, see a fashion show and eat lunch with the corporation's CEO! One year I even won a contest by predicting which bathing suits would be best sellers! The women told me that maybe I had a future career as a fashion buyer!
Ladies, you can do anything if you put your mind to it was the message of the day. The powerful feeling I experienced each Take Your Daughter to Work Day continue to inspire me as I embark on the very beginning stages of my becoming a working woman myself.

namaste

One of my fondest college memories was the two semesters worth of gym classes I took with my girlfriends. The first was a step class fit for old ladies or stoners like us in '80s jazzercise wear! The soundtrack to step class was not as memorable as senior year, second semester Pilates instruction where Peggy Levine played the Brazilian Girls which teaching us how to tone our posteriors and abs on the mat.



At Yoga Work's Monday night class which I've now experienced with three different teachers, there is no music. After a communal oooommmmmm chat, the class begins stretching into basic Yoga poses. There is no cracking a smirk or bursting into giggles during a particularly compromising position alongside your leg warmer clad roommate. The real world isn't so bad though. Although members of my Flatiron yoga enclave take their Vinyasa's quite seriously, they are more or less mellow people I suppose.

After the first two classes I started to get used to the crunch factor and began to appreciate the workout and relaxation. On Saturday I even went to yoga on the weekend which scores me major points because it was so hard! Don't you just hate those people who are naturally flexible? When I returned home I tried to demonstrate a painful pose to my roomates, and I felt surprisingly limber! This springtime Yoga foray is appealing I think. Another communal closet member who recently moved into the East Village has started participating at a studio called Yoga for the People. Maybe when we master our poses we'll practice on the roof or with yoga freaks in Thompson Square Park.

We will keep you posted in this quest for fitness! But, for now, I'll leave you with a cute pair of American Apparel '70s style track shorts,: an ode to Hugh, my favorite Yoga instructor at Columbia who used to teach in a more authentic version of these.

GOING GREEN/ ENTERING THE SCENE

first vanity fair came out with a wicked issue
then elle magazine educated us on eco-friendly fashion
4-20 hit
earth day followed
hell, even wal-mart is going green!

you know when your ghetto super (star) begs you to recycle your tsingtao beer bottles that its time to get involved-

let's discuss a few tips on conservation that are so easy, a caveman could do it:

1. Clothing Swaps

The EPA estimates that more than 10 million tons of textile waste went to U.S. landfills in 2003. Why contribute to this problem? Get rid of last season's fashions with Swaporama, the brainchild of Wendy Tremayne, who desgined a program that brings people together and reuses unwanted fashions. Show up with a bag of old clothes and $10- then you can roam around and shop till you drop. Think of it as Beacon's Closet minus the snooty hipster 'tude.
http://www.swaporamarama.com/

2. Update your lighting

Make it your personal policy to buy energy efficient compact flourescent light builbs. You can now get a variety of shapes that perfectly match the color hue and lighting for each room in your abode. They look good and use 2/3 less power than regular light bulbs!

3. House Plants

Invest in large, live houseplants that will keep your indoor air fresher and put you in a good mood. Hydrangeas are in season, affordable, and stunning.

4. Save Water!

Place a water bottle filled with liquid or pennies in your toilet's water tank. This will cause the tank to use less water every time you flush. It is estimated that it will save you about a quart to half a gallon per flush.

5. Make Your Own Cleaning Supplies

Using simple ingredients such as baking soda, soap and vinegar, you can make cheap, easy, and non-toxic cleaning products save money, time, and your indoor air quality. This is especially important if you have kids, pets or if there are elderly people in your home who are sensitive to chemicals in the air so you and your home will be healthier.

6. Buy a Laptop

Even an oversize laptop runs more efficiently and takes less energy than a desktop.

7. Pay your bills online

It's faster and easier and - NO PAPER!

8. BYOB

Bring your own bag- Bringing your own bag to the grocery store saves everyone time and money. In the U.S., we use five hundred billion plastic bags every single year and only three percent of those get recycled. Supermarkets like Whole Foods encourage this by giving you A SMILE + 15 cents off your next purchase if you BYOB!

9. Green fashions are becoming H-O-T!

Anthropologie has tons of eco-friendly brands on their racks, and Levi's $65 organic cotton jeans are a best seller.

10. PARTY GREENLY!! (does that make sense?)

WHO: Solar 1
WHAT: GREENDRINKS NYC!
WHERE: 2420 FDR Drive Service Road East (at 23rd Street /Ave C and Stuyvesand Cove Park) NY NY 10010. Take the 6 train to 23rd street and walk east or the M23 bus to Solar 1. tel 212 505-6050 - look for a huge white tent on the East River!
WHY: Peak Organic Brewery, Sambazon, Whole Foods and Sunshine Organic Vodka are sponsoring!!!
WHEN: Tuesday, May 8, 2007, from 6:00pm - 10pm



"make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race"- the one and only MJ

Tragedy

Strange experience to find out someone you know died via a magazine article. Lily Wheelwright, a young actress and older sister of a dear friend of mine, passed away last month from a drug overdose. Lily was a fixture on the Bohemian scene, once on the cover of Vice Magazine and a good friend (and subject) of the much buzzed-about photographer Ryan McGinley. I only met Lily a few times when we were in photography class together and even then we mostly discussed her sister, who was a student at Yale and herself an insanely talented actress (has been since I met her when I was twelve and she was eleven.) Lily's death came less than two weeks after the premier of the film she co-starred in, Orphans, at SXSW. Her family is generous and loving and my humble sympathy goes out to them.
There will be a screening of Orphans at the IFC Center on 6th Avenue and West 3rd Street Monday, April 30th at 10 pm.

Rainy day word

1. dinner john

1. A dinner john is a man (or woman) who is lacking in looks, personality, or the ability to understand that sexual favors can not be purchased with one or more dinners with a dinner whore.

2. A dinner john is a man who buys dinner for a dinner whore who is hoping to raise his sexual market value SMV by being seen in public with an attractive, charming woman (or man).

3. A dinner john is someone who is too gutless to visit a prostitute because he can't seem to get laid and is tired of jacking off. He wants to get laid and tries to do so through buying dinner for a woman -- any woman -- who will go out with him.

1. The dinner john had invested at least $1,000 on dinners over the past six months on Sally, the dinner whore, but she still wouldn't have sex with him.

2. While Jim, the dinner john, was having dinner with Monique, the dinner whore, Marilou walked by the table at the restaurant. When Marilou saw Jim with Monique, an attractive woman, Jim's SMV went up in Marilous's estimation.

3. Dinner johns would be much better off just going to a prostitute for sex. Don't forget your condoms!

Going Gaga for the GAP?

Four score and seven months ago, when I was but 11 years old and attending the hallowed halls of the Montclair Kimberley Academy, the Gap was my go-to-place for the turtlenecks and collared shirts my classmates and I were required to wear. 10 years or so later . . . it's been a long time since I've ever considered walking back into the Gap. I think they lost me when they broke out the perfume line whose biggest hits were "Grass", and "Dream".

It appears as though I might not have been the only one to become disallusioned by the Gap's preppy mind-set, neutral color palette, and redundant silhouettes: a few years ago the Gap was on the verge of bankrupcy. It was no secret that the mega-brand was in dire need of a make-over; Re-Invent or Bust. After several failed attemps to garner a new audience, it seems the Gap has finally hit the right note. For 2007, the Gap has launched several new campaigns including "(Product) Red", and the Design Editions.

Product Red (tagline: "Let Your Red Out"), is a clothing project where contributions from the sales of these items cover the cost of AIDS treatment for 20,000 women and children in Africa: exactly half the profits from Gap (PRODUCT) RED™ styles go directly to the Global Fund to help fight AIDS. The new concept, which is widely advertised and heavily backed by celebrities and big-wig icons alike, comes at a time where cultural awareness is on the rise. More and more brands are lending themselves to global issues including the AIDS epidemic, civil war in Darfur, and (thank god!) the omnipresent environmental movement to "Go Green". In these dire times of political, social, economic and environmental stress, it is a relief that those in the position to raise both awareness and funds are in fact doing so. Do you need a better reason to shop?

(The styles above at $125 and $19.99 respectively)

On a slightly different note, albeit a less humanitarian one, Gap has entered the designer arena.

In 2007, Gap has collaborated with CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winners Thakoon, Rodarte, and Doo.Ri on a limited edition collection inspired by the classic white shirt for which Gap is so widely known. These chic styles are a grand departure from the straight button down, varying from tie fronts, to trapeze sihouettes, to feminine and flirty shirt dresses. Regardless of which style you choose( there are 9 total, 3 styles from each designer!), you are sure to spice up even the most boring of work wardrobes, and with prices ranging from $68 to $88 you can't lose.
Check out my top pics below
(my favorite Rodarte style did not have a picture available, but check them all out at www.gap.com):

shitty cities

I have recently come to the conclusion that there is no way in hell a chic, sassy NYC bitch can ever live happily in another US city. The only place to move is Europe, or if you're crunchy, the far east. For example -Boston is supposed to be a cool, intellectual city b/c of its billions and trillions of students. Unfortunately, it is just a big stinky fake-ass city with goober-buckets of nerd-burger retards (except of course for the uber-booger butt-munchers in Cambridge). Is it just me or do other n.yorkers feel like you're suffocating when you're in a little shitty city?
As I write this blog, my coworker (who grew up in shitty Albany) just remembered that she used to play "retard" with her sisters, taking turns imitating the mentally challenged while riding around in wheel chairs. This brings up another point... going to college and entering adulthood in NYC is awesome, but it may be cool to be a little kid in a shitty city. It is cool to play imaginative games like the aforementioned; the excessive stimulation and small living spaces NYC permits may not be the best for a blossoming brain. BUT if any of us chic new yorkers are going to bring up our kids in shitty cities, then we have to move out of NYC. OK - idea!! LIVING in a gated community 15 minutes out of NY and let our children run around in the gated community in tie-dyed onesies while we stay chic and sassy in NYC! Awesome!

When you're alone and life is making you lonely

you can always go - downtown.
When you've got worries all the noise and the hurry Seems to help I know - downtown.

If you're in need of a little urban comfort, here are some neighborhood favorites:


KGB BAR
We took refuge at this history filled bar a couple nights ago when the people on the E 4th street between Bowery and 2nd started to look like they were burying a dead body in a construction site.

RIVINGTON ARMS
Another East Village spot that is located high off the street. On Friday night when we got here around 8:30 for an open bar show opening, the crowd spilling on to the sidewalk was like a crazy bohemian house party guest list. The exhibit was cool but sadly no booze left.

WHOLE FOODS on bowery and houston
This is a really good spot to watch hipsters shop for food.

DOWNTOWN BAKERY 69 1st ave. between 4th and 5th street
A friend of a friend told me about this no frills mexican spot and we tested out the burritos for our communal lunch break at Karma Lounge. Some of us got vegetarian options and others indulged in some serious meat. MM MM!

...Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city

...... Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty MS. PETULA CLARK

Rainy Day Word

Mensfer

NO. WAY.

I know we have the link to our media guru, Perez Hilton, over on right (your) side of the Communal Closet, but this deserves its own special link.

http://perezhilton.com/topics/listen_to_this/listen_to_this_the_most_amazing_thing_ever_20070412.php

Yeah. That's right.

Do the Robot!

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Fancy Nancy

For the first time ever, its Communal Closet Online in video! And who better to represent the communal closet girls than our favorite new friend, Fancy Nancy. Check her out folks! And be sure to visit her blog too!
http://fancynancysfunnyhour.blogspot.com/

Free Food!

With the recent flurries in NYC this week, its hard to say whether we are stuck in winter or maybe, just maybe spring is around the corner. Either way, this cold spell gives me a great excuse to continue my winter munch out. That and the fact that Passover officially ends tommorow, 4/10/07!
Today's New York Post features a great article about bar food. Apparently the whole gastropub thing is really popular with NYC's foodie community. Has anyone ever been to The Spotted Pig? The chef (its a she!) was just named Best Chef in 2007 by Food and Wine magazine.

Award winning chefs aside, bar food usually implies nothing fancy. A couple weeks ago, we started our night out at the Crocodile Lounge ( 25 E. 14th St., between Second and First Aves) and indulged in free pizza (you get a pie with your drink!!), not so cheap drinks, and several rounds of $.50 skee ball! The night only got better as we headed down to No Malice Palace (197 E. 3rd Street ) to dance away some pizza calories. As the rain poured down in Alphabet City (is there a reoccurring theme here?) we drank, smoke and gave thanks for free pizza pie! While the night ended in a not-so successful endeavor to meet nearby corporate hotties, I am speaking for everyone present when I say free pizza and dance parties cannot be beat!

So, with that, I present you a list of bars that serve "complimentary snacks" as compiled by the New York Post.

On Monday nights, Professor Thoms' (219 Second Ave.; [212] 260-9480) hands out free thin- crust pizzas - usually $8.95 - with any pitcher of beer, while Standings (43 E. Seventh St.; [212] 420-0671) serves saucy, cheesy pies every Friday night. A veritable bar mitzvah buffet awaits at Ama (48 MacDougal St.; [212] 358-1707), a hidden gem in SoHo featuring the cuisine of Puglia. Every weekday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., chef Turibio Girardi serves "L'ora dell'Aperitivo" - an Italian-style happy hour complete with cocktails ($10) and a farmhouse-table buffet overflowing with prosciutto, salami, cheeses and more, alongside hot appetizers such as spinach frittatas and potato croquettes. At Tarallucci e Vino (15 E. 18th St.; [212] 228-5400), you're served a complimentary assortment of mini pizzettes, frittatas, olives and fresh-baked savory spinach and cheese pastries. Many bars are also serving seriously addictive higher-end snack foods, such as truffled popcorn and spiced gaufrettes (waffle potato chips) at HQ (90 Thompson St.; [212] 966-2755), homemade caramel corn at Amalia, (204 W. 55th St.; [212] 245-1234), and platters of Parmesan- and smoked paprika-dusted malfatti chips - fried pieces of misshapen pasta dough - at Dani (333 Hudson St.; [212] 633-9333). At Pair of 8s (568 Amsterdam Ave.; [212] 874-2742), a new two-for-one themed happy hour (5:30-7:30 p.m.) offers a pair of signature cocktails for just $8. Chef Matt Hamilton also serves free house-made potato chips and a daily freebie from the bar menu such as shrimp fritters with ginger and chili. At European Union (235 E. Fourth St.; [212] 254-2900), chef Akhtar Nawab stocks his bar with beer-swilling eats such as cazuelas of fried pancetta dusted with chili powder and chunks of German hunter's sausages.

things i like: digby and iona

mounted buck rings, sterling silver and gun metal

mounted buck necklace, sterling silver and gun metal


buck & crossed rifles necklace, sterling silver



keyhole necklace, sterling silver

aaron ruff, designer

available at Bblessing, 181 orchard street, between houston and stanton Streets (212-378-8005); catbird, 390 metropolitan avenue, at havemeyer street, williamsburg (718-388-7688 or http://www.catbirdnyc.com/). to see more of aaron's designs, go to www.digbyandiona.com.

HEDI SLIMANE: Perpetuating the fashion-phile stereotype one crazy (albeit) skinny waistline at a time

THE SLIM-MAN STORY . . .
DON'T say the fashion set don't suffer for their art: to fit into his super-slim Dior suits Hedi Slimane apparently has to live on a diet of baby food. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph's Celia Walden, a snoop close to the designer confessed: "Hedi's diet consists of baby food. He doesn't like to do too much digesting, so it's the obvious option. His favourite flavour is chicken, but he won't say which brand he prefers." And while Hedi's flaks are happy to confirm the rumours, they're also banned from disclosing whether it's Cow & Gate or Heinz he prefers for his lunch. "Yes, we know about the baby food. But you want us to tell you which brand he prefers? We are not prepared to say anything on that subject," one explained. - VOGUE(UK)



For those who are unawares as to who Hedi Slimane is, check out my brief recap below:

Hedi Slimane was, until recently, the designer for Dior Homme. He and Dior parted ways recently because they could not find common ground when re-negotiating his contract. It's been compared to when Jil Sander left the Prada Group, except I think that Hedi might have been more of a drama queen/ had ridiculous demands.. I mean the freaking tard eats baby food.. being a diva doesn’t even begin to describe him.

He’s being succeeded by Kris Van Assche who actually used to apprentice with Slimane at Dior a while back.








Ps- van assche is one fine piece of lanky fashion-man assche.

Thank you

Dear Vending Machine Engineers,

I remember when I was a kid, going up to the snack vending machines, nervously pulling a dollar bill out of my pocket and inspecting the creases. Would it accept it? Would I get my Twix? The anxiety, the fear, the desire, the hunger all churning in my stomach. Then I would hesitantly place the dollar bill into the feeder only to have it REJECTED, spat back out at little me, sad and Twix-less. I would then have to set up camp next to the vending machine and try to flatten the bill by rubbing it against the side of the machine over and over again, but usually my efforts were in vain.

Anyway, I've noticed that as of late, this problem seems to confront me less and less. My bills slide easily into the metrocard machines or the Coca-Cola machine in my office. I no longer have to worry that I will not get my afternoon snack because of a folded corner of a George Washington. I'm sure you all have something to do with the remarkable advancement in the machines' ability to accept money, and so I'd like to recognize your efforts. Thanks. Good job. We're all happier and more satisfied because of you.

Sincerely,
Me