Black Magic Mood

I am feeling a little witchy today, need to cast some spells...

Even though this song is pretty much a rip-off of Tommy James & The Shondells' "Crimson and Clover" it gets me excited...

This one makes me dance in my chair....

This one makes me want to destroy a hotel room...

She's Got Legs

I will always steer clear of a skin tight top and drape myself in baggy shirts and flowing dresses, but I am a firm believer in showing off some leg with killer heels and ultra short skirts and shorts. I honestly can't get enough micro-minis and daisy dukes. I mean just look at this amazing shot from the Milan fashion week Dolce & Gabbana show. Hot damn! Where's your favorite place to show a little skin?

Thanks for the pic Jak & Jil.

The Final Show

Yesterday the 16 pieces that Alexander McQueen was working on before his death were shown in Paris. See the show here and then see his pre fall/winter 2010 lookbook below. So beautiful, so sad.

Biker Chic

I can't decide if this picture makes me want to go shopping or bike riding more. It for sure makes me excited for my upcoming first trip to Paris, where these lovely and stylish ladies chose bikes as their preferred mode of transportation during fashion week.

Thanks for the pic Because I'm Addicted.

Chanel Sun

Awhile ago I blogged about my apprehension toward Mary-Kate Olsen trying to bring back round sunglasses, I was mainly discussing the 1960s little ones with colored lenses but I wasn't necessarily sold on the big black ones either. Well times have changed my friend and I have been converted. Now I wish I could get my hands on the two-tone Chanel pair that MK broke onto the scene a few years back and that are modeled so nicely by Krystal of What is Reality Anyway, but instead I bought something a little less dramatic and a lot more in my price range at Target before I left for Berlin. Now I can't wait for it be sunny enough to wear them, maybe today is the day?

"Poor But Sexy"

Here are some bits from the NY Times article regarding the $3.4 billion airport rising just beyond the limits of this hip but economically strapped metropolis.

*Supporters of Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport contend that it might be the salvation of a city that, despite its incredible historical resonance, has become an economic and geographic backwater. Detractors vehemently argue that the airport will be just another misguided drain of money by a local government critics say has failed to help Berlin realize its potential despite the city’s status as one of the hottest destinations on the planet.

*The paradox of Berlin, encapsulated in Mayor Klaus Wowereit’s catchphrase “poor but sexy,” has never been more fitting. Berlin was ever thus — broke and full of German dropouts and hipsters — but in recent years the city has drawn flocks of young people on budget airlines from around Europe and the world for the nightclubs and galleries flourishing in the city’s abandoned warehouses...But those warehouses were empty in the first place because, for decades, forces beyond the city’s control stripped Berlin of its former industrial might.


*Planners expect the armies of fickle hipsters to awaken Berlin from its permanent adolescence and turn it into a world capital of creative industries like art, fashion, music and film. But that does not necessarily set off an economic revival.

Read the article in its entirety here.

And the Best Dressed Oscar Goes to...

I didn't get to see the Oscars being in Germany and all, I mean they aren't worthy of staying up until 2 am and watching at a bar. My personal preferred viewing situation would've been after a day spent with my nieces in Manhattan, a night of take-out, wine and celeb shit talking with my bro and sister-in-law. But alas, I just got to read the results and scour the red-carpet photos online today. Anyway, there were a few facts about the winners I found interesting and of course some dresses I loved and hated. Here they are....

*Douchebag extrodinaire James Cameron (Avatar) loses to his ex-wife (he has had five) Kathyrn Bigalow (The Hurt Locker) for both Best Director and Best Picture. Ha!
*This was the first year a woman won Best Director (beating out her ex-hubby at that!).
*The Hurt Locker only grossed $14.9 and still won Best Pic.
*Sandra Bullock won a Best Actress Oscar for The Blind Side and a Worst Actress Razzie for All About Steve not only in the same year, but in the same weekend. 

As for the important part:
YES!
Zoe Saldana: I'm not usually into purple or diamond encrusted anything but when I saw this dress I literally said 'Oh My God' out loud — this couture beauty is what people should be wearing to the Oscars!


















Miley Cyrus: I really never thought I would say something like this about this saucy tot, but I think she looks great. I love the strapless satin corset, the high waist and the champagne beading of the dress.






















Sarah Jessica Parker: Apparently gold was big this year... I know a lot of people will say this dress looks like a shiny potato sack, but I am digging it. I love the neck strap and the retro feel to it that's not SJP's normal tulle 1950s frock.






















Rachel McAdams: I always expect excellence from this lady and she most often delivers. Love the corseted strapless cut on this as well, but am especially into the soft floral print that is so of the moment. I love when actresses can pull off floral gowns without looking dowdy or too girly, it is not an easy feat.


















Zoe Kravitz: Love the simplicity of this dress, the touch of deep red velvet, the fine ass papa escort doesn't hurt either, so sweet.






















Can't wait to see how many of my Best Dressed get on the Worst Dressed Lists, that is usually the case. Now here are my worst:

NO!
Jennifer Lopez: bubble wrap anyone?






















Charlize Theron: uhh, are you kidding me? There is a fine line between being fashion forward and just plain ridiculous and Charlize has crossed way over. She needs to have a pow wow with Zoe Saldana about pulling off purple couture.























Honorable Mention: Carey Mulligan looks amazing. I love the shoes and how they peek out of the asymmetrically cut dress. I personally would not wear it (hence honorable mention) but it's perfect for her.

A Berlin Night

K took these pics out and about in Kreuzberg on Friday night. It was a pretty good weekend as a whole (except for maybe a few after shocks from the earlier in the week breakdown) that went something like this: record release dance party, photo shoot, photo booth, late night kebabs, shopping, snow, fancy cheese plate, 1970s American film, wine and rock n' roll, sleeping in, McDonalds, Weeds. 

Random Sunday

LAKE TAHOE, Calif.—The state border, 1968.

I wouldn't mind being in warm Cali watching the Oscars right now.

Czech It!

Despite a breakdown here and there, life is good. We just found a hotel for a weekend getaway in Prague at the end of the month where we will rendezvous with my brothers Aaron and Andrew. Fun!

Photo from Gilderic's flickr.

Berlin Breakdown #1

I knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but despite the title of this blog, I do not plan on it being a regular occurrence. But the stress of moving, adjusting to living in another country and in someone else's space, and ridiculousness of not having the Internet reached its boiling point last night and I cried my eyes out. Apparently I am a bit overwhelmed, but I feel better today and with a renewed sense of self. Sometimes it really does take a good cry to realize what you need. Here is my plan: Get out of the house! Explore on my own! Find my own space! I know I love this city and even though I spent three months here last summer there is still so much more to discover. And although it is nice to play house with the one you love for a bit, I can't have just that. Berlin here I come, I am ready now.

A Berlin Evening

What a lovely Sunday that was. 

How About Another Chloé Day?

Awhile back I coined myself The Cherry Blossom Girl's official shoe stalker and although I still intensely covet her footwear I have made a little observation. As I said it's not that I no longer think she has amazing style (I am dying for some of her clothes as well), but I've noticed that all her shoes that I have been lusting after are made by Chloé. It seems the CBG is simply the designer brand's ambassador, picking out the best pairs for me to drool over. I mean take a look at these bad boys, I know I have pictured a few before but I just can't help it. The should definitely hire her as their new face, or foot...and maybe send me a few sample pairs.

I think I'd be...

....HAPPY with this as my living room. HELP!

Top 10 Mispronounced Foodie Words

On a lighter note, today when I was at my friends house using her Internet she was also kind enough to make me lunch. When the yummy vegetable medley appeared in front of me there was one item that I didn't quite recognize (have you ever had a cooked endive? not bad), and she wasn't sure what it was called in English. After we figured out what it was I said the name out loud and for a second I thought I was pronouncing it wrong, which then led me to think about other foods I mispronounce, then totally randomly I just came across this:

1. Bruschetta (broo-SKEH-tah)
2. Gnocchi (NYOH-kee)
3. Gyro (YEER-oh)
4. Huitlacoche (wheet-lah-KOH-chay)
5. Pouilly-Fuisse (poo-yee fwee-SAY)
6. Mole (MOH-lay)
7. Paczki (POONCH-key)
8. Pho (fuh)
9. Prosciutto (proh-SHOO-toe)
10. Sake (SAH-kay) 

I definitely mispronounce at least three of those and don't even know what at least two of them are. Heavens I guess I am not the foodie I thought I was. 

Life Abroad Advice/Technical Defunct Rant

Whether you are traveling, studying or living abroad there is one thing that is certain: if you come across a logistical problem, solving it is going to be much harder than you're used to, especially if you are in a country where they speak another language. So yes this is where I tell you a stressful story of mine:

First thing Monday morning when I was finally over my jet lag, ready to work, with more than enough work to do, the Internet mysteriously lost its connection. Luckily Karsten discovered it before he went to work and was able to make the call that would've been impossible for me. But unluckily, it was not a quick fix and I would be without the World Wide Web (God forbid!) until at least the evening unless I chose to venture out into the world alone in search of some Wifi. Doesn't sound too hard right? But suddenly I found myself lost and literally disconnected in a country where I feel that way sometimes anyway. Not that I don't love Berlin, but shlepping my laptop around the city in search of a workspace or at least someone who understands my question is not that fun, nor easy.

First I tried the closest thing in the neighborhood to a Starbucks, English: yes. Wifi: no.  So I popped into a bar that I was told would be good, only to be shooed away (well I think that is what she was getting at, I couldn't understand her, but the gestures that came with the words seemed to say 'we're closed!'), after that I had to go home defeated and curl up with an actual book (God forbid!). Later that evening I was escorted to check my email at a smoke-filled Turkish Internet cafe where I had to ask for the millionth time where the @ is on these German keyboards.


Despite my overreaction that the world might just be over without Gmail and a daily blog entry (and that I was going to get fired!), in the end I am not too scarred and am still employed. We still can't get online, but I am lucky to have a few Berliners who are looking out for me and who also have the Internet, and one in particular who handled with great calmness that earlier said reaction. So I guess my point, other than to just totally vent, is that when you choose someone to spend time with abroad make sure they are a person you know you can deal with problems with and not someone you are going to want to kill when you get lost for the 20th time, order the wrong thing from the menu, or can't figure out a place to check your email.

Random Sunday

NEW YORK CITY—James Dean attending a dance class taught by Katherine Dunham, 1955.

NEW YORK CITY—James Dean loved to play the bongo drums and jam with friends, 1955.

UNITED STATES—James Dean posing amusingly in a casket in a funeral parlour, seven months before he died, 1955.

NEW YORK CITY—James Dean, 1955.

UNITED STATES—James Dean, 1955.

Beach House, The Roter Salon 02/25

@@@ out of @@@@

I saw Beach House — whose last two albums have been making their rotation through my speakers probably more than any other band as of late — at the Roter Salon in Berlin last night and they definitely lived up to their number one spot on my playlist. And the "Red Salon" does its own part and lived up to its name, from the obviousness shown in the photos above to its history as an old East German Socialist theater. Despite my hatred for red attire, luckily I am not at all against red walls and red lighting. And it was one of those perfectly sized venues - just small enough to feel an intimacy with the performers and large enough to not feel completely overheated and packed in.

Due to an extreme and unusual punctuality we found ourselves in the front row for a majority of the show. It's certainly been a long time since I've been that close to the music and it was nice to have a complete view of the duo. Despite their atmospheric almost melancholy music, they both are quite entertaining and the boredom that sometimes occurs at a mellow concert never crept in. He in an approachably cute way, playing his guitar in just socks, making subtle yet sweet jabs at his first Berlin audience and adding a gentle harmony to her throaty vocals. She head-banging her shaggy hair intensely trying to fight off any "dreamy" label the group may have gotten in the past, snapping her golden ringed fingers with a shimmy stomp to her feet.

This reference may be way too off base for some but I used to seriously be into musicals as a kid, and Victoria is such a hipster version of Broadway actress Bernadette Peters — raspy and brash yet completely sexual and alluring. And speaking of sexy, let's get to their music. I read in an interview they wanted "Teen Dream" to be the kind of album you can fuck (excuse me, make love to) and from her longing moans to the up-tempo down-tempo melodies just fast and slow enough to hit the right spot, I think they may have gotten their wish. Finally, they sound just as good if not better live than on the album, and for a girl who has been obsessively listening that is really all I could've asked for.

Low Lit

I've always wanted a room with a bunch of vintage lamps hanging from the ceiling and an antique Persian rug as well actually. During my last days in NYC I went to a party in a warehouse space by the Williamsburg Bridge where I snapped this photo of a similar idea done with opposite execution. Their design may be a little easier to set up, but certainly a bit harder to maneuver around. Thank God for massively hip and huge lofts. I think it looks cool and definitely sets the mood but I still prefer the hanging idea. What do you think of this look?

A Sunny Day in Berlin

After all my feeling sorry for myself about the European gray weather, I woke up this morning to actual blue skies and sun (see the view from my new balcony!). Pretty unheard of here in February, so much so that when I got off the plane a few days ago I heard someone say "this is pretty sunny for Berlin" only to look up to completely overcast skies. But today is 9 C which is pretty much 50 degrees for us Americans. I am going to celebrate by dancing around to A Sunny Day in Glasgow. I finally understand how they feel. You should try it too.