FashionMista.com is FOR SALE

FashionMista.com is For Sale

2011-04-01T07:33:00.004-05:00

Pass it on...FashionMista.com is for sale.

Perfect for a mens' online fashion magazine.

The equivalent to Fashionista, YOU could own this growing household name that has already been spoken by such notables as Mario Lopez on the news magazine show, Extra.

Urban Dictionary defines FashionMista as:
n: the male version of the fashionista
n: a man who loves fashion

Once you own this domain, this blog will go away, and with it, the domination of FashionMista in the search engines as we know it, which points to womens' fashion and lifestyle on this website. Your FashionMista brand would soon replace the SEO stronghold.

I also own the FashionMista accounts for:
YouTube
gmail.com
Stylehive
Yelp
Flickr
StumbleUpon

All of these accounts can be yours for a fresh, clean start.

Contact me at fashionmista@gmail.com and let's start talking.

You're wearing the pants now, FashionMista.

Sweatpants in Disguise: The Anti Denim Jeans

2011-01-18T23:53:00.002-05:00

By EVAN PERAZZO

Still wrapping your legs in rough suffocating denim? Like many wayward souls, you probably got duped into thinking blue jeans are comfortable. Or maybe you found “stone washed” to be an irresistible marketing term. Well, here’s the sobering truth about denim jeans: they squeeze your legs, your jewels, and don’t even think about squatting or bending over. Do you think those barrel-bellied tourists trolling Times Square in jeans and white on white sneakers look good? You want to look like that? If so, I’d also recommend a belt and a Blackberry holster.

And don’t get me started on the button fly (all-time dumbest idea until McCain rang up Palin), or the skinny jean. This article is not about Halloween costumes.

Go, right now, to your closet and root out all the jeans you’ll no longer be wearing. Repurpose them by sewing up the legs and making potato sacks. Set your legs free.

For me, comfort is king, and I’d wear sweatpants all day long if I could, but I do recognize the need to hold down a job. So what to do? Sweatpants in disguise.

The North Face Men's Pants and Shorts

Kuhl Crag Runner Pants

Jet Lag Tiago Cargo Pant

And for women, LuluStayAtHomeMom are masters of cloaked sweatpants.

Truth be told, the first time I was sporting these and proudly uttered the phrase, “Sweatpants in disguise,” I was informed in no uncertain terms that they are “hardly in disguise.” Fair enough. But you’ll be rockin’ enough style to not get fired. And you’ll feel like you’re lounging on the couch at home all day long.

FashionMista's Male Contributors

2011-01-14T21:07:00.004-05:00

EVAN PERAZZO
Evan Perazzo lives in Manhattan with his wife and 2 children, where he works in film production. He is a self-proclaimed superior athlete and cook, and refuses to serve his children chicken nuggets. When he's not playing baseball, snowboarding or training for the occasional triathlon, you'll find him on the couch in sweatpants.

Embracing the Male FashionMista

2011-01-08T00:56:00.003-05:00

Welcome male fashionistas. You have earned this term, and therefore, I'm handing this blog over to you. This blog has been around for a while, focusing mainly on fashionista and lifestyle stuff, like when I interviewed emerging designers, tracked laser hair removal, designed my wedding dress, and got ready for my daughter Ruby Ray's entrance into...her cool room to say the least.

In 2005, FashionMista was a word I made up to mean "fashion mouse". Since then, it has become a word that means "male fashionista". And that makes sense, and it's creating a lot of great visual and content to play with.

So it is from a humble place, I bid farewell to the blog I knew, and hello to its new set of archives focusing on male fashion, hot culinary spots, and let's face it because I can't ignore it, some cool fashionista fashion too if you don't mind.

This might be my first editorial board. I know - they look preppy here, but they were in dress rehearsal attire in Maine for our wedding. From left is my filmmaker brother TJ who can get a bit hipster, then David's friend Evan who can sport some punk style at times, then David, and then David's brother in law Jim who is an open metrosexual and shops for jeans by the two dozen at a time.

PS: I'm married to a sports guy who lives Ohio State Football. He wears Blundstones almost every day, and won't wear any other slightly pointy or hipster shoe I force him to try on. I just bought him argyle socks with mustaches on them. Not sure that he noticed the mustaches. So, you'll have to help me out a bit while I assemble a team of real FashionMistas. He is a jacket-whore, but seems to buy the same one over and over. He's currently looking for a puffy Northface jacket that isn't too puffy because he gets hot. Maybe this is our first challenge.

This is David on a stylish day:

"It broke"

2010-05-18T12:05:00.005-05:00

My next blog post was going to feature all of the little things we have set up in the baby room. We have a few highlights in there we are excited about. However, Highlight #1 just pulled a chicken-little, and we have to try it again.

When we went to Mexico for a wedding in January, I begged David to haul home 2 painted sinks and a Mexican hammock - the kind that you sit in, as opposed to lying down. I sat in one, and it was sooooo comfortable, I thought it could work as a nice soothing place to rock/swing with baby.

So we got it set up. Hurrah.

And then it fell down. Sad.

I was downstairs working when it happened, and the whole house kaboomed. David has been worried about it since hanging it, and keeps sitting in it to test it. Last night, he heard kinks in the screw making strange noises as he felt the first sprinkles of plaster land on his head. This morning, he sat in it again, and waited. Legs crossed, just as you see him in this picture. And then it happened: he just fell. From the air. Onto the floor. Sad. And it's the hardest I've laughed this month.

Belly Photos: 30s Weeks

2010-04-21T07:42:00.007-05:00

I was really bad and did not record when this belly photo was...so I'm thinking it was in the early 30-ish weeks. At this minute, I'm 35 weeks pregnant, and am in the stage of serious duplication, meaning, I'm just growing really fast. So, you'll still have to stay tuned for the up to the minute most recent belly photo. ;)

This is just before Easter, and just before I ODed on a lot of tempura from Sushi Samba. It was so good! But too much fried for this pregnant body. I got a little giddy at the store and bought some things to plant, like lavender, rosemary, and little purple daisies of different varieties. Exciting. Yes, I planted them as a pregnant lady, and yes, that did wipe out my back and hips and sent me straight into recovery aka bath.

Some question this - a pregnant lady on a chair painting a scalloped trim - but I went for it. Yes, it once again wiped out my back and hips, but I just had to do it. I cut out a scallop of the size I wanted, outlined it with chalk, and then painted in the lines. Might try to package this into a little product to sell to add to the stencil market. Was fun.

Yeah, so this is against the rules, but Oliver is used to trying out all new beds when they come in. Mom: You are not allowed to write any comments here in all caps about why this is not allowed. We are aware, and this was a good test run to see what his tenancies are. :) But it was darn cute. Are they going to be like the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp? We'll see...I've been training Oliver for being outside, and he's loving it. Dinah is easier, and she can't jump into things.

This is our seriously pimped out pac 'n play. They are all pimped out now, and it's a matter of what you want on top. David is operating out of the changing table attachment at the moment.

Here's what's been happening:

SHOWER
We had a little baby shower here at the house, and that really motivated us to make things nice. David touched up the chipped paint on the porch, bought a corn toss thing as a game in the back yard, I planted flowers, and we finished hanging pictures and such. We had some maternal belly dancing courtesy of Suzanne Caesar of Maternal Dance (ps, we are redesigning her website!), and delicious food from HomeSpun, our local and delicious cafe in Beacon. We are outfitted now with some childrens book classics, onsies and blankets, mysterious drug store items for me that I guess I'll soon learn about, and other things that make me feel calmer about at least having somewhere for the baby to sit other than the blank nursery. We didn't know that there were so many swings a baby can have - side-to-side, back-and-forth, and the bouncer. And that doesn't include the portable bassinet, and infant car seat that the baby can hang out in. All I can say is, good thing we moved. And darn, cats also like sleeping in these conveniently low to the ground empty baby seats.

STROLLER
This was a source of overwhelmedness for us simply because of the sheer volume of options and reviews. So many reviews! We ended up going with a BabyTrend jogging stroller with snap on car seat (not for jogging with newborn, but for inflatable tires, easy maneuvering, walking through grass and broken sidewalks). It looked pretty snug and safe, so, we shall see how this stroller pans out.

BABY MOVEMENTS
Baby is totally moving around, getting comfortable. The tush is on the right side of my belly, just sticking out like a little booty. I was on the train yesterday, riding into the city for a social networking conference, and was wearing a tight shirt. The baby was just swimming in there, and you could see lots of movement of my stomach! Kind of felt like I was that person in the movie with a secret alien in her stomach, but just pushed those thoughts from my mind. Lots of hiccups have been happening, and for the most part, the baby is in a good position, or so I hear.

HOSPITAL TOUR
So we have two hospitals - the one in the city with the Dr I love, or the one out here for the backup in case things go faster than we think and I know nobody (eesh). Also a point of stress for a few reasons, the main one being insurance. In the city, apparently, the private room may not be covered. But the one out here is, and it's ginormous and has a pretty view of the Hudson River and mountains. Of course the private rooms in the city have different prices for different views. Bastards. Also, apparently, it is possible for a medical person to come into your room, and bill you, and not be on your insurance. Maybe this mainly happens with anesthesia people. Not happy about this, and am making a sign that says: BLUE CROSS BUE SHIELD ONLY - ALL OTHERS KEEP OUT.

So that's the update!

Belly Photo: 28 Weeks

2010-03-09T12:08:00.006-05:00

Hey Everyone,
Since you've requested, here is an official belly photo. I'm not one to have belly pride, although now that I have one, I kind of get it. Otherwise, it's winter so I reap no benefits of being pregnant with people offering their seats to me because I'm in coats and big cumphy sweaters. Although I did just buy two books last night at Walmart (yes, we were at Walmart now that we don't live in the City, but we were really there for cheap spring curtain rods), and I dropped one of the books. When I dropped it, I just stared at it because this pregnancy has softened my bones and taken a lot out of my hips, so walking is a little less perky or strideful. A woman must have seen me staring, and just swooped in, picked it up and handed it to me. Very nice.

And yes, that picture is in the baby room, so that is the color of the wall, that in my mind, might become stenciled if I think I can do it...Not so much stenciled as free-hand...And that black band is the bella band, so it can keep my painter pants up.

And here is a picture of Oliver, on the belly. My mom thinks he is tracking a mouse in there, which is pretty much what it feels like.

Wonderwoman Underwear Set

2010-03-08T09:50:00.004-05:00

Might have to get these. Wonder Woman underwear. They came across my inbox via the www.bustboobtique.com newsletter. Then, I might get a pink monkey key cover.

Operation: Dig Out the Bushes

2010-03-04T13:05:00.002-05:00

These bushes were a bit much for me when we first moved in, but now I really like them. They smell good, are hearty, provide a wall of green, good times. But then the heavy snowstorm came (actually 2 back to back), and flattened them! The bushes in the front of the house are probably not going to make it and are brown, but they are a different type, and I'm cool with losing them. It gives a nice excuse to get a hydrangea bush or something flowering and wonderful.

But I look out my sunroom office window each day to see these bushes flattened, and I just want to dig them out! David does the whole driveway and plenty of other things, so I'm doing little baby shovel-fulls for the exercise. The baby wanted to breath winter air, but we only do it for a few minutes and then stop. Gerdy usually comes to supervise.

You can't tell what anything is here, but the bushes are on the right.

We're in the middle of a Big Melt, and I've gotten those bushes out so far. Otherwise, they'd still be stuck in ice and flat. A few raw branches where they just bent too far. In the foreground of this picture is a limb we lost from a tree on the side of the house, one of those decorative kinds. Maybe cherry blossom or something.

I uncovered enough snow from the top that the branches could pop out again, but they are kind of stuck that way now. The rest of the bush is under that snow.

To me, the bushes are saying: "Bla! Help me!" as they splay in every direction. Yes, that is a neighbor garage in the background that is slanted and falling over. We thought maybe the snow would bring it completely down, so that the insurance could take it away, but not just yet.

Here's What I've Decided About Maternity Jeans an Shirts

2010-03-03T08:52:00.006-05:00

That they will always be falling down. We bought the pregnancy jeans to be a size 3 (out of 1-3) because I'm a taller girl with love handles, so who knows what could happen.

The Page Skinny Jeans (which are not so skinny), that had the spandex elastic band, are fine and comfortable, but they just keep slipping. If I put the bella belly band on top of that, eh, it could help, but mentally, I don't want to double up on the elastic.

The Habitual jeans are skinny, but have the two side pull elastics. I like those, but they really don't stay up either, and need the bella (belly) band. So that bella band is on my body almost every day. Get two. I thought I ordered the Habitual Knocked Up jean, but the skinny jeans came, and I'm totally happy with them.

A friend handed down to me another pair of Habituals, and these are not skinny, but more roomy and ultra comfortable, yet the waist is ultra big, so they really slide. Bella band to the rescue again to keep them in place.

The thing with shirts is this: though I'm not "eating for two" in the sense that I'm having 2 cheese burgers, my belly is not huge. Yet. At 28 weeks. So some of my old shirts do work, and I don't want to buy official maternity shirts, and I like wearing my old stuff. However. Today I've realized that it's the waist height that is the issue, not the stretch or fit up top or in the arms. These normal shirts are all waist long, and slide up over the belly button, so I'm constantly pulling it down. I also noticed this in my Maternal Dance video, where the work out ladies have long stretch t-shirts on covering their bellies. Much better because you don't have to think about how much slippage is going on.

RECOMMENDATIONS
My recommendations so far are:

Spring for the designer jeans (as recommended by Beth). I'm glad I did (well, my mom did), as they are the perfect length (usually jeans are too short on me). I wear them every day, when not wearing stretch pants.
If you are going to exercise, get longer shirts. I didn't do this because it's winter and I've been doing DVDs and not jogging (personal choice), so I haven't been outside to need to look cute. But. If I were to go to a yoga class, I'd need longer shirts.
Get the bella band, for your old pants, and for your maternity pants that won't fit. The "rubber band trick" where you loop a rubber band around the button and through the hole didn't really do it for me, and pants still slid.
That bella band inventor is a genius. So simple, yet...Bravo for taking her idea to fruition!

Breathtaking Veil/Headpiece with Feathers from Bridal Designer Alisa Benay

2010-02-18T21:48:00.004-05:00

Blogging is so fun - it means you get to serendipitously meet other bloggers who you learn are big fashion designers. Like Alisa Benay, designer of beautiful corset wedding gowns like you've never seen. When I was designing my wedding dress, and wanted to go the bustier route, she swooped with any advice. Well now she's also designing wedding veils and headpieces, and I'm in love with this one:

This picture was taking during a photography workshop with Jessica Claire, and isn't it lovely.

This wedding gown is one of my favorites from Alisa's 2010 bridal gown collection. I love the thin straps on the shoulders, with the low cut and ruching covering the bust. And the back scoop makes for a nice surprise for the train of the dress, and unique.

I Buy Entrepreneur

2010-02-11T18:30:00.000-05:00

Well, do you??

Bump Alert - Pregnant in Mexico

2010-02-07T10:15:00.003-05:00

Here is the latest bump. It was hard to find a picture because this dress, when lying flat, is fine, but sometimes the wind got under it and made me look extra pregnant. ;) Otherwise, I have a bad habit of wearing my old clothes that are just too small, but that I think work. Tee hee. For example: I actually no longer fit into my easy-peasy Victoria Secret shelf tanks. Otherwise, this was on our trip to a beautiful wedding in Cancun, Mexico.

Ok, off to do my Maternal Dance DVD, and maybe another video for some cardio. Then I think I need to book a maternal massage with Collective-E member Janet Markovits.

House Pictures - Livin' in the Vision

2010-02-07T09:09:00.005-05:00

Hey Guys,
Ok, so here are some house pictures, to put to rest the "mystery house" it has now been dubbed by some. ;)

DISCLAIMERS:
1.) I am lazy and did not make pans, so you are getting slices of visions. David, on the other hand, would have taken 3 pictures for every 1 wide angle shot, and merged them together for you. That's why he's the professional locations manager.

2.) I put this off because not everything is perfect yet. We are 90% unpacked (which yes, drove me straight into a massage because this pregnant body became so stiff and sore), but it was worth it. But there are things we'd like to change, and...yada yada yada. But otherwise, it has been like moving into a clean, fresh canvas, ready for embellishments.

3.) It's too cold to go outside to take any pictures. We got no snow from that latest storm in DC and elsewhere. Not one flake.

Welcome to our home. This picture is if you walked into the front door, and could go left into the living room, straight into the kitchen, or up the stairs.

"The reverse" of that last shot. That is the front door that is always nice and sunny in the morning. Gerdy prefers to go outside to the front yard as opposed to the back, so she's out on the porch right now. On the left is our front hall closet, and on the right is our attempt to catch shoes, but we hope to get something like a shelving unit or something better to put our mittens and keys and dog leashes on.

If you took a left at the stairs, you'd be in the living room. Cumphy, we think. And yes, both of those couches and the table were in our NYC apartment. You know what? We did need to leave behind a giant piece - my boudoir thing that held the TV, several drawers, and shelving for books. It was too massive to get out of the building! Wouldn't go down either fire escape stairs or the elevator. I have no idea how it got into the apartment, as it was given to me by a woman who had movers who wanted to place it. Our movers would have had to take extra hours to dis and re-assemble it. Now the next person in the apartment can have it just the same.

The dining room. This is the view from standing in the kitchen. And that door you see with china on display leads to...

A secret china closet! I put Gerdy's food in there, but Oliver already took advantage of when the door was left open, and ate his way into the bag. Darn him.

This is the kitchen. It is spacious, and to the right which you can't see, is a wall that David wants to "take down that wall" to open it up to the living room. For now...we are oddly at a loss for some drawers. We only have 1.5 drawers. The kitchen in our NYC apartment actually was generous with tall cabinets and drawers, so we had to get creative until we make some bigger decisions about what to do with this space that does not have drawers...As you can see, it's coffee time.

Gerdy, you blinked! This is the cat door to the basement that Oliver had to try out a few times before he felt comfortable. Luckily, he is not too huge to get through it. This leads to the basement, which exists in our minds as a workout room for David and a craft studio for Katie. Right now, it holds boxes and items to be moved to the Garage Sale that we will have come Spring. So no pictures yet. But. It *does* have a washer and dryer! Nothing could be more fun than that.

The reverse of the kitchen. We might replace that bookshelf of pots with an actual couter top situation, as the previous owners had it, but we need to decide on the overall look for the kitchen first. I'm kind of digging that greenish/blue shelf with the red pots...would be an extreme inspiration for something colorful, but I'm not sure David would go for that. So, we shall see...Many magazines to come for that look. That door at the ends leads to...

The office/sunroom. This is the office, and those bags are chocolates from our local chocolatier. Whew hew! I'm trying to keep it clean. My desk used to incorporate a lot of full time things on it, like a file box, bullitin board, inbox folder, etc. So I'm trying it with almost nothing on it, and I'm kind of liking...There are windows all around this room, in the shape of an L, so it's quite nice, and looks onto...

The backyard. To the left is a tool shed which is fantastic. We love it. Though we're not the handiest people around, it inspires us to learn. ;)

UPSTAIRS

Upstairs is my dressing room because the master bedroom has no closets. I did this mirror shot because it's a pretty small room, and I couldn't capture the whole thing. This dresser is one of several of my trash picks, so it will do for now. I'll probably re-paint it.

Sorry, but yes, this is the baby room. Moving on.

Bathroom.

Man room. This is the 3rd bedroom, serving as a guest bedroom and David's closet. We'll see about how to make it a guest room and a man room at the same time...

Bedroom. Ignore the taped on window covering. Still under construction in our minds of what we want - shutters or curtains.

Those are some pics for now! Favorite things so far about the house:
- Letting Gerdy outside on the porch.
- Doing laundry that is just a few steps away and doesn't involve quarters.
- Walking to town that is 1 minute away.
- Hearing about all of the people that our NYC friends know who live in Beacon, including several small business owners like the Pilates studio and little shop that sells lots of indie designers found on Etsy.
- Turning the heat on! But I think I dehydrated myself last night. No more cranking of heat at night.

That's a Bump, and, Summation on Pregnancy Jeans

2010-01-06T23:35:00.003-05:00

Or it's the cheese fondue I ate at that family Christmas party...

Yes, those are still my jeans. Stretch cords actually, from AG. Love them. Lifesavers. You see, there are no jeans for preggo women I've decided. I've learned about 4 different waistbands:

Adjustable: My favorite. There are hidden elastic straps inside of the waistband, and you just pull and button when your pants get too big. All of my jeans should have these. All of my Habitual jeans at least, since they always stretch out.
Short Waist Band: A total tease so far. They just squeeze all of my love handles into smushy messes. Not all brands make such aggressive elastic, but some do. Woa nelly.
Wide Lycra Waist Band: Gentle, almost too gentle. See, I ordered a size 3 in all preggo jeans from Habitual and Page Skinny (nothing skinny about them), and they are falling off. Literally. So, I'm either busting out the butt and literally breaking my jeans, or they are falling off.
Low Belly: These have no elastic at all, just a super low belly. Very odd. Like bikini, but for preggo ladies. I got these in Habitual Skinny (they were supposed to be Habitual Knocked Up, but I think they sent the wrong ones). Skinny they were (yay! legs are the only things I've got going for me), but in the waist (size 3), a smidge big. Sigh. It's weird to want to grow into your jeans, to actually hope your thighs get bigger. But then you stop thinking that real quick.

So that's the update on that.

Moment of Zen with Coffee Cozi at Caribou

2009-12-20T10:23:00.003-05:00

Enjoying a moment of morning zen over at Caribou coffee in the Upper Arlington suburbs in Columbus OH with my new designer coffee cozi from Katie James. David went on an hour long power walk with his twin sister Dayna, and I just can't move that quickly first thing in the morning, especially in 25degree weather.

Do you like this coffee cozi with the pocket? Get it here >

Yes, I'm Pregnant, and There Will be Clothes

2009-12-01T21:28:00.003-05:00

This is a pregnancy card from Kate's Paperie that I bought myself because guess what, I am pregnant. I could have bought it for several other friends who are pregnant, but darn it, it was too cute to not cut and paste it into my new pregnancy journal that I also bought at Kate's. The booties were knitted in 60 seconds by my friend Word Bird, and were done so with pink and green yarn so could be unisex.

Now, I just have to warn you, I am not a "baby person". I'm one of those people who looks at dogs on the sidewalk, and goes mushy. I look at babies in strollers, and instead of wanting my own tiny baby, just want to have my own one of those stroller sleeping bag blankets that I myself can sleep in. In other words, the clock in my belly wasn't ticking, but the clock in my brain was. My goal was to set up my own business so that I could work from home or have easy access to my children (even saying that feels weird!). I also wanted to be sort of young. My mom was 23; Dental Mista's mom was 19. I always had a feeling that I wanted kids young, but wouldn't do it until my early 30s. Well, here we are! And for those of you mistas who think that you're getting old because you're in your 30s, let me tell you: most likely, you are just as ripe. ;)

So are you going to see me jump and down and stuff? Probably not. But it's not because I'm not excited. I'm more overwhelmed and humbled with learning, and realizations that babies and all of us are miracles. Will you see cutenesses in between the lines of these pregnancy posts? Probably. ;) Why did I wait so long to blog about it? Well, because it's all still a little weird to me, and I keep learning things that make new milestones of 'safeness'. So, at 15 weeks, I think I can tell you.

FAQs
These are literal FAQs ;)

Do you want to know if it's a boy or a girl?
At first I wanted to go old school, and David quickly agreed. I also didn't want to get too attached in case something bad happened. But then I kept getting ultrasounds and saw it progress from a black smudge, to a white spec inside of the black smudge, to a jumping bean in the black smudge (indicated heartbeat...milestone!), to now a flipping around tiny baby thing. Then my friend, who was supposed to be the one who would hold out with me and be one of the last to get pregnant, actually got pregnant, and then 20 weeks later, called me to say "It's a girl!" after her ultrasound. So I decided that I wanted to know, but David wants to wait. So I just won't tell him. ;) Plus, David and I are hooked on 2 names - one girl and one boy name. So, I'd really like to know which I can start latching onto, and which I need to get final about (I'm not crazy about the boy name, but I'll deal with that once I know the for sure answer).

Are you having cravings?
Not really. I like pickles anyway, so now am just freely eating them. I will say that I'm eating new things. New, and bad things. Like soda. I've sworn off Diet Coke, but the more I see it in people's glasses with ice cubes floating around, the more I want to suck it down. I'm having a Sprite right now. I have a sweet tooth, but am trying to not give the baby diabetes. The sight of cooked salmon grosses me out. I love salmon, so this is a sad loss.

Are you tired?
It varies by week. Like most of these new pregnancy symptoms. This week I appear to not be tired, as this post is bring written at 10pm. But I must say, in the beginning, going to bed at 9pm was awesome. Now, I don't get so much tired as my bones get tired. I'm told that my bones have softened to make it easy for them to shift around and widen (wha???). So, sometimes I feel quite crackily and brittle.

Are you going to move out of New York City?
I'm not going to lie. The school system freaks me out. There is a consultant I could go to who could help me navigate (I know that sounds silly...but really, it overwhelms me), but David and I grew up in the midwest. We kind of like the outdoors and backyards and crocuses. Plus, I grew up in a place I wanted to break out of and see new things. I think that gave me a drive, yes? It's a cockeyed theory tho. Unproven. The thought of leaving New York City leaves us jittery. So, we've looked at Upper Manhattan (aka Harlem, Washington Heights, anywhere that has a shred of a deal left), and train towns along in the Hudson. We shall see...

Are you going to go on maternity leave?
If I was working for a salaried desk job, sure, I'd take it and cherish it. But I don't. I blog, I Facebook stuff, I help people grow their websites, I love challenges, I order more inventory and love when it sells off the website. So that is work for me, but it's work that I love. To not do it would leave me twitching. Look at Diane Keaton's character in Baby Boom. She left her job (pushed out), and started making all of those apple sauces until they were a huge business. She just could not sit still. And guess what. Neither can the baby! It flips around all of the time and punches the air.

You must read the Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy.
Ok, this isn't a question, it's a statement. I'll confess, I have the attention span for the weekly www.babycenter.com emails, which tell me what week I'm at and what's happening. Last week, the fingerprints formed. I also have the www.childbirthconnection.org experts on speed-email because Katie James Pixelated helps them manage their website. But I use this only in emergencies. But it has inspired a new Pregnancy 101 section...

Can you feel it?
No. And that makes it all weirder. I have no bulging bump, and I don't feel anything flipping. I can see it flipping during an ultrasound, but that's it - for now. I'm told that later on of course, I will. Last summer, my pedicure lady, who I see every 2-3 weeks, looked at me in my umpire waist shirt from Urban Outfitters and said: "Baby!?" and I had to say "No.". But now when I go in there, I feel like they are looking at my extra love handle-ish belly, and wondering, and not saying something. When they say something to me, I will feel officially pregnant. But for now, I think they are being polight. ;)

Are you drinking coffee?
Yes. One cup a day is deemed ok. I only drank one cup in the morning anyway.

Are you getting the H1N1 shot?
Yes. After much consideration, I decided that the conspiracy theorists who thought the government was trying to kill us through the shot was not actually logical. The H1N1 itself seemed to be taking care of that. I have a pretty high immune system anyway, but do have asthma, so after a lot of debating, I got it. I requested the mercury-free one.

Are you getting the flu shot?
Not sure. I don't get the flu much anyway, tho I'm told that my immune system is down during pregnancy. We shall see. Soda doesn't help the situation, and usually brings on a cold if I'm having one floating around my body. So I should stay away from that.

MY OBSERVATIONS
Ok, so once you say you're pregnant, everyone thinks you have a belly that you might rub. What you actually have is "redistributed weight". So, while I gained 0-3 pounds in the first several weeks, I had more love handles than ever. I think I'm at 8lbs now, and skirts from the summer are just not getting over my hips. It's depressing. Oh, and why am I trying on skirts from the summer? Because I am the most comfortable in leggings, and leggings need a little skirt or sweater dress to go over them. And saying to me: "But it's for a good cause!" doesn't console me. Until I find a wardrobe that is easy to put on again, I will fight this non-weight weight gain. Still no bump. Ok, maybe a tiny bump, but if you didn't know I was pregnant, you'd think I'd been eating too many Crumbs cupcakes again.

Guys sense the pregnancy hormones. I swear it. It's like a perfume.

I am in a raging clothing crisis. I already needed new jeans, as one pair of my Paige's had shrunk long ago so were tight anyway. My Habituals finally are in shreds, and my AG skinny jeans are so skinny, that while stretching them out after the dryer, they finally split (the fabric went soft, of course!). I patched those, but on way to the pedicure place two weeks ago, they split again, and this time, there is no return. I told this to my mom: "Mom! I am showing cheek!" And so began her maternity clothing mission. And who am I to stop her. She has since found maternity for Habitual, AG, 3 dot, and more. My good friend New Mom Mista (who needs a new name by now) loaded me up with her very nice maternity collection, which consists of a lot of pink and green, her favorite colors. The collection included 7 of All Mankind jeans, but we have both agreed, that the elastic on those (for the bump), is waaay too tight even for her pilates stomach. This is hard people. Very hard. I'm currently in Pink sweats from Victoria Secrets, or in my AG stretch cords in my normal, non-pregnant size (oddly). We found stretch cotton shirts at Anthropology in the sale room, so hurrah. The search for normal looking maternity clothes has begun.

Ok, I'm off to bed so that I can get good sleep for the baby and wake up tomorrow for some small amount of cardio to keep the oxygen flowing.

Holiday Boy Gift Ideas for Husbands, Boyfriends and Brothers

2009-11-14T17:32:00.013-05:00

As hard as I try to write down gift ideas for my husband David throughout the year...I always forget. So let's get the holiday gift idea list going.

The Barber Spa with The Art of Shaving

I interviewed my husband's hard-to-please friend, and he said right away: A gift certificate to a shave with The Art of Shaving. At first I thought he meant product, which I've given David before and he's hooked, but he meant an actual hot shave.
Buy it from The Art of Shaving >

Magazine Subscription

These trade magazines have loads of gift ideas, even for birthdays. If your boyfriend or husband is into cycling, try Bicycle Magazine for gift ideas.
Buy it and other magazines at Amazon > (and FashionMista gets a commission)

Griffin Elevator Lift for His Laptop Computer

This is a great gift. My own brother gave it to me, out of his very own thought. I love it!!! I travel a lot with my laptop, and the Griffin Elevator lets me look straight on and relax my neck. I'd recommend a keyboard to plug in so that he doesn't need to hold his hands up, but I've been totally cool without it. It's totally portable and breaks into 3 pieces. Fits great in my messenger bag.
Buy it at Amazon > (and FashionMista gets a commission)

Keyboard Cufflinks

For the real geekiness in your husband or boyfriend, check out these MAC keyboard cufflinks - with custom initials! Could be a perfect gift for your geeky brother. Great stocking stuffer!
Buy it at Geekware.com >

Leather Wrist Band/Cuffs for Studs

If your husband, boyfriend or brother is the super studly type, going to clubs and such, then the black genuine leather wrist band/cuff from Di Manno Designs is a perfect stocking stuffer for him.
Buy at DiMannoDesigns.com >

The POWERCUP On-the-Go Power Supply Cup

Ok, this one may be more for me when I need to plug in my laptop for more power in the car, but this power supply cup with outlets can be a great help for your man.
Buy it at Delight.com >

Removable Toddler or Baby Car Seat Cover

Speaking of the car, your hubby might be the one who deals with the car seat when it gets dirty. Founder Katie Danziger was shocked when she realized that she couldn't easily clean her car seat, so invented the nomie baby brand to solve problems for parents. She launched with the nomie car seat cover for babies and toddlers, and it is a time saver and saves on back pain. And now, nomie baby is being carried in the Friends of Katie James online boutique, Diapers.com, and BuyBuyBaby.com!
Buy at Friends of Katie James >

Fish Bottle Opener and Coaster

For the fisherman in your life, or the rugged outdoorsman, check out these fish coasters with bottle opener.
Buy at Artful Sentiments >

100% Kosher Beef T-Shirt

For the meet-lover. Pure, 100% Kosher Beef t-shirt. It's a muscle-t, and you won't see many like it.
Buy it at PopJudaica.com >

Honoring the Down Trees in Central Park

2009-09-19T08:50:00.006-05:00

Gerdy and I went walking this morning at The Great Hill, one of the highest points in Central Park at W. 104th Street. We made it before the 9am leash law took effect, so that Gerdy could wander through the shrubbery and pollinate plants that are seeding tiny little green seeds in her thick coat. What is different for us now, after doing this for almost seven years, is that the canopy of trees that we walk under, on little paths carved out naturally and some by the Parks Department, are gone.

A twenty minute storm with 70 mile per hour winds and hail that blew through the Upper West Side on Tuesday, August 25, uprooted, blew over, "shattered" (word used by a writer for the New Yorker) hundreds of trees, and the shrubbery on which they collapsed. According to that article, some of the trees were over 150 years old and had been there since the beginning of Central Park.

The morning after the storm, stunned New Yorkers couldn't take their normally scheduled walks on paths because entire trees had fallen and blocked the paths. Dog walkers who are here every morning, climbed through entire trees, which is an odd experience, to get through and get to the other side, only to climb through more fallen trees. Birch trees were blown upside down - the top half resting on its head beside its severed trunk. This was before the Parks Department could caution tape everything off a few hours later and begin buzz sawing to be rid of trunks or entire root systems blocking major walkways. Therefore, this blog post is a long overdue obituary of sorts, for these trees and pieces of woods that are now gone.

What the Trees Mean to Me
Central Park looks very different and produces different emotional or scented effects depending where you are standing. Like New York itself, which changes block by block, the Park serves as calm bird sanctuary, dog walker heaven, roller skater madness, sun bathing beauty, soccer for little kids in the Fall, handball for those without tennis raquets all year, stunning English gardens from the Vanderbilts, shelter for wandering homeless men, a hideout for some criminals when chased by police car and helicopter (as seen from our windows) and two wild dogs (who were later dramatically captured, housed, and adopted).

What usually goes unnoticed, or maybe it's just me, is how this land changes not acre by acre, by 10 feet by 10 feet. The concrete footpath leading up to the track at Great Hill, which houses small children riding bikes with training wheels, frisbee golf clans, and dog walkers, leads one through a vast sloping lawn on one side, and what used to be the Blair Witch of woods on the other side, until a woman living in a very fancy apartment across the street donated over $1 million dollars to renovate it. After the renovation, she'd spy on the dog walkers from her window, and call the police when she spotted someone throwing a stick to their unleashed dog at 10am, or 1pm, or any time that was not within the leash law. In the winter, this was particularly problematic because the leaves were gone from the trees and her line of vision was like a hawk through the branches. In the summer, after the heavy budding of the elm and tulip trees erupted into big fluttering leaves, we were safely hidden again.

After she renovated the Blair Witch area, wild shrubbery had been cleared out and replaced with bursting pink flowering bushes, baby trees and new ferns. Rocks were placed in a circle that actual witch groups would gather round to light candles and have chants, and dead trees that served as landmarks were left untouched and mowed around, serving as chimneys at night for any person who needed to sit by a fire.

This tiny area of the park, when viewed from the street, is high up on a cliff, with jagged rocks that some people scale, shaded in lilac trees that smell overwhelmingly delicious in Spring, even when you are walking the same speed of the garbage truck on its morning route. The morning after the big storm, most of those lilac trees bended down the cliff, breaking onto the sidewalk. Up at the height of the cliff, there are smooth, rolling rocks that one can sit on and absorb the sun like the turtles do just one block down in at The Pond. The trees around the rocks allow for spots of sun, but mostly, serve as a temporary shelter during a light drizzle. Trees are all around, and you are hidden from any park ranger if you are off leash with your dog who may insist on eating several of the leafy greens that grow from the different type of weeds or bushes.

After the storm, however, this little area is bare, and sun beams entirely on the rocks, giving you more of choice of where to sit, but less of a sanctuary. Further up, where the lilacs where, some still remain, but the expanse of bush is gone. It is brown dirt, surrounded by bails of hay one could surmise is to prevent new chances of erosion. A tree that seemed to spin out in its growth and was very wide, lost one half of itself. Two major trunks grew from the base, and one trunk did not survive the storm and snapped off, crashing on the area beneath it.

Standing on this rock, this big mother of a rock that on one side has a 6 foot drop off into smaller rocks, you can now see the line of apartments running south down Central Park West when you could not before. To the west, is the bare soil with patches of pink flowering bush still budding behind fencing that was once lush with paths and landscape, and to the north east, one sees the growing pile of stacked tree trunks reaching 15 feet high, which have been fenced off with fencing that doesn't reach that high. Across from it, a steaming pile of woodchips, the fate of those tree trunks, which are elm, tulip, oaks, horse chestnut, beech and black cherry. The woodchip pile is steaming because of the pressure of so many woodchips on top of each other, encouraging combustion. This is Ground Zero for what seems like all of the trees that cannot be removed from the park because of an infestation of Asian longhorned beetle that was caught in a few trees two years ago. They must all be shredded. It was estimated that 500 trees were down. This used to be where I jogged, but the ginormous canopy tree I stood under to do my stretching now lies in that pile, to be transformed by a bladed woodchipping truck. So I don't jog there anymore until it's all gone, which looks to be several months, since the pile seems to only grow wider.

Walking home, there remains one path through the woods that despite the blowing streams of yellow caution tape tied to its fencing, retains some of the enchantment and quiet that several of these winding paths used to give to walkers of Central Park who needed to ge engulfed in green and mulch and weeds and flowers and swaying branches for just a minute before returning back into the world of elevators and subways and sidewalks, where running in bare feet through clean grass is just a memory.

This is just one small area of the park that was devastated. And really, the total extent of damage only occurred between W. 97th and W. 110th streets. Central Park goes from 110th to 59th streets on both the east and west sides. If one didn't walk by the renovated space formerly known as Blair Witch, they'd take the lower path and walk by woods, where dogs can be frequently seen darting through, or taking peaceful poops. Bird watchers would mill around with binoculars looking at the new hawk that had settled here in one of the tallest trees. I saw my first bluejay attack on a cardinal nest. All gone now. No tall tree where that hawk built the nest.

It's cleared. Brown. Roots sticking up out of the ground. Roots of trees turned to a 90degree angle taller than me. The bales of hay circling the base of what was once dense woods that one could not see through, unless in the dead of winter. Gerdy still walks over this space, does her business, and continues to sniff the new earth that I wish I could say was fresh. But the odor of the rotting tree trunks in the pile above is overwhelming, and all I can do is sit on a freshly but jagged cut tree stump while Gerdy sits on the new hillside absorbing the crisp Fall breeze that blows freely in this unobstructed place. I could envision thoughts in her mind, that she's missing these woods, but I don't think that's the case. She is enjoying the new open hillside to catch up on all that's being carried on the back of the breeze.

Several volunteers of all ages have come out to rake branches, spread mulch, clear brush, and anything that needs done. Here's information on how to volunteer in Central Park.

The fixing of the park will be expensive. Here's how you can donate to Central Park.

Thanks. Here are pictures.

Our first clue that something was wrong.

Our second clue. The birch tree branch upside down.

Confirmation that things were bad. This is a concrete path leading up to the Great Hill near The Pond and the Inner Drive.

Scramble through that tree, and you'll see the next set of trees down.

This tree uprooted and fell over.

Super closeup shot of a hefty tree that just snapped and fell over.

Another tree that just snapped.

Up on the Great Hill. This is the tree I used to stretch under. There is a huge tree next to it, and Gerdy would sit under that one while our rabbi friend and his dog would do forms of meditation. That one is still standing.

I think this is the other side of that tree, the root structure. Always amazing to see the hole it leaves. There is one deeper into the woods, where there is a ravine, and it's always been there. It's like a crater landed there, and has always been a landmark for Gerdy, that she has to sniff and climb into. But now, there are lots of these types of holes.

Trees in trees.

When this fell, did anyone hear it? I sure didn't. I didn't even bring out my camera that morning. No one thought major damage had happened.

All of the trees get taken here to this pile on the Great Hill.

Some of the trees were unhealthy I suppose, but according to the New Yorker article on August 31st. 2009, several healthy ones came down due to those high force burst of winds.

The growing mound of chips that the trees get turned into and is then spread throughout areas of the park, including new and old paths.

This is Gerdy trolloping through the new blank hillside that used to be totally covered in woods. This used to be where we could hide from the police when we needed to be offleash to do some business.

Tilapia: I Cooked the most Yummy Breaded Fish and Homemade Tarter Sauce

2009-08-24T21:39:00.003-05:00

Determined to cook something other than chicken with creamy pasta (of which I'm a pro), I'm attempting to cook dinner for my husband. A feat that does not usually happen in our early married life. I usually work until he comes home, at which point, he looks at the empty, scentless kitchen and reaches for the canister of delivery menus. It's really gotten bad. And I'm so over that delivery food because I think it made me put on 10lbs. So here goes.

But wait you say - this is a fatty meal. Breaded and fried in oil? No, I tell you. Here is what it is made with:

saffron oil (as opposed to soybean oil)
fresh breadcrumbs from the Silver Spoon Bakery
organic eggs and flour for dipping the fillet of tilapia into

And the tarter sauce? Harmless Helmans regular mayonnaise with minced:
(1 tablespoon each)

red onion
dill pickle
capers
fresh parsley

Delish I tell you. And David gave it a thumbs up! I must say, I was also totally inspired by Julie and Julia, in that, she cooks for someone.

Country Sounds in the City

2009-08-21T12:50:00.003-05:00

As I sit out here in Central Park with Gerdy, the breeze blows on a balmy August morning and waves of locusts calls carry through the trees while buzz saws eat through fallen trees from this week's hurricane-like mini storm.

It's refreshing to hear these sounds, as in my apartment, I hear mainly sirens, honking, Music with a Latin flair, and the occasional bird from a neighboring tree or stray pigeon who lands on the air conditioner.

So while sitting on this park bench, I tried to pretend that I was in my dream home country kitchen, with my coffee and laptop on an island of dark polished granite, doors open, the sunlight bouncing off of my white tile-work, and I began to feel a different kind of peace. Oddly, in my fantasy, my ears filled with the ringing sound from total silence. I started to feel alone from groups of other people. My oasis was perfect, but the buzz from buildings normally around me wasn't there. It was just trees...a thick wall of trees and maybe an occasional garbageman. The closing walls of...the burbs.

I zoomed out of my fantasy and returned to the park bench, where buildings tower along side Central Park, occasional people taking pictures of the tree damage while walking to work, baby strollers, dogs on leashes, dogs off leashes, park surveyors of said damage, homeless people who live in the park...just people who I normally never talk to, but notice.

Hence my confliction of where to move to - where to buy a home instead of dumping all of this rent into my landlord's bank account. Even though we're in a housing crisis, suddenly people all around me are buying homes. Dental Mista just bought her first 1600 square foot apartment in Lincoln Park (it's beauuuutiful...we found it for her on Craig's List!), and my very first Dog Friend from the Park, who is a teacher, just bought her second house. Yes, the first is an apartment here in the city, and now a home somewhere out of the city and they will rent the apartment out.

When Dental Mista was buying her home, she'd been looking and looking, going through so many experiences. But what became very apparent to me was that she knew exactly what she wanted. I've always been a little serendipitous, so planning like this doesn't appeal to me, however, with this kind of housing decision, it's becoming clear that if I don't know what I want, I won't move. I'll sort through these conflictions, but it's going to take some observing to figure out what to do. I love the city. But I want a house. Confliction.

Favorite Messenger Bag: Rickshaw Bagworks found in Paradise Garage

2009-08-20T07:37:00.006-05:00

When I first got my Mac Powerbook G4 just before I officially started Katie James back in 2005ish, I treated it to a pink carry case from Casauri that I found in Kate's Paperie. It served me well for years, but the pink took dirt in between the nylon that I couldn't scrub out, and a mysterious blanch spot appeared on my monitor's pixels that I blame on things pressing down on the laptop monitor while I'm carrying the bag or putting it into bigger bag with other things.

Now that Katie James has gone digital with Katie James Pixelated, I'm on the computer all of the time, and traveling more to meetings or to 'vacations' where I work during the day, and stop for dinner with whatever family I am with. This means lots of trips to Panera with lots of cords for phone and computer, my Griffin elevator (a raised surface for my laptop), notebook, folder of current scraps of paper notes, etc. So I usually carry two bags at minimum to contain this maddness.

Then I had to buy a new Mac, and I wanted to start things off right. I wanted a mini-office on my shoulder. And I wanted to ride my bike with it if I wanted to. Enter Columbus bike stores. I am addicted to them. I seem to buy all of my clothes from them. Paradise Garage is my current favorite, and when I asked about messenger bags, they passionately presented me with the Rickshaw Bagworks line, out of San Fransisco.

The messenger bag had all that I was looking for:

a framed structure so that I could place things in the middle of the bag that would not smush up against the laptop
a separate pocket for the laptop
front pockets for other stuff like cords, external harddrives, lip gloss...
big front pocket that folds over, and has magnet strips if you don't feel like buckling it (this might be revelutionery for actual bike messengers b/c it replace the velcro that can be noisy when they enter offices, but the Rickshaw Bagworks bag also offers the velcro opportunity under the magnets)
cool color combos.

I would change two things about this bag:

better placement of pockets for cell phones and little things. This bag may have been designed with men in mind, and men may not be as into pockets as women are. I want an easy place for my cell phone and metro card on the outside of the bag.
the magnetic strips are cool for lazy days, but if you don't buckle it, the straps hang, and that's not very neat and tidy.

But these thoughts on improvement are not a deal breaker. I am SO happy with this bag. I don't have to carry two bags anymore, and packing it now is like clockwork. I ended up buying it from Paradise Garage to reward the brick and mortar store for their great find (keep retail stores alive!), but you can also find more styles on Rickshaw's website. Actually, I don't see mine on their website (brown with pink trim), so shop around!

How to Cut Your Own Bangs - Like I Did

2009-08-07T10:59:00.007-05:00

ATTN: What you are about to read is the result of hair that is growing longer and longer, and the owner of said hair not knowing what to do with it. Also, it is the result of pie bangs coming back with a rage, and said hair owner not being able to resist. You may do this at home, but only if you are within 5 miles of a hair dresser you trust. You must be OK with pixie bangs, if you cut too much and must only have pixie bangs left.

First of all, decide what kind of bang you want. Personally, I love the heavy bang, commonly referred to in the 5th grade as the pie shaped bang. Usually when I try this, I get a wispy Helen Hunt bang, or at best, a bad feathery Claudia Schiffer bang. However, bangs I covet most are Melissahead Yabberings, Heidi Klum bangs at times, and for a minute Zooey Deschanel's bangs in 500 Days of Summer. Oops, if you look at those, 2 out of 3 have dark brown hair, which may help the bang look more solid instead of whispy.

Here is how to cut your bangs at home:
1. Wet your bangs. It's best done right out of the shower.

2. Use sharp, pointy scissors. I was in an emergency, and used scissors from Sephora that are curved at the top. This is not recommended, but will suffice in an emergency.

3. If you have long bangs (aka, no bangs), comb down the amount of bangs you want. If you want the pie shaped bang as mentioned above, you literally should pull down your bang in the shape of a triangle, with a point of center up at the top. Don't make the bang all straight accross at the root. Make it in a triangle shape.

4. This is the fun and scary part. You need to cut off several inches. Hold your wet hair straightly between your fingers, and start cutting accross (the result of this is shown in the picture above. You can cut straight accross, or at a sharp diagonal. I did a sharp diagonal just for fun, leaving one side almost long enough to go behind my ear. Leave room for error, so cut it slightly longer than you actually want them.

5. Now trim the line you just cut. Hold your scissors at a vertical angle, and cut up into the bang. Don't cut horizontally anymore. Cut up. This will give some dimension to your bang, and help it not look like such a jagged edge.

6. To style, put a bit of mouse, or my favorite, the mens Texture Creme from Crew. Love that stuff. That will add some body and lift your bang.

Things to think about in the morning:
1. If you are a two-day hair kind of girl, note that your new bangs may very well stick straight up in the morning. They will probably calm down, but won't have that 'just stepped out from under the blow dryer' effect.

2. You may want to make them shorter, because they will suddenly be in your eyes. Pause before doing this because you are about to really mess them up, and then trim. When you trim, continue with the vertical angle on the scissor. This will take a longer time to actually trim your new bangs, but is less room for glaring error. You'll still have error because you did it yourself, but it won't be so, so bad.

Best Student Designed Bags

2009-06-17T20:38:00.001-05:00

Best Student Designed Bags, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Students produce the most wonderful designs. So fresh, so energetic,
so free. This designer was a finalist. We're making our eat through
the other categories! People are here from all over the world. There
is a shoe designer whose shoes is in a stamp in Finland.

Designer Minna Parikka at Independent Designer Awards

2009-06-17T19:08:00.001-05:00

Designer Minna Parikka at Independent Designer Awards, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Minna Parikka is wearing her own purse, and yes, her own shoes! I
wonder who will win tonight. This purse is in the running. These
awards are the brainchild of Emily Blumenthal of Yasmena!

I Made a Good 'un - Burger Delish

2009-06-16T21:14:00.001-05:00

I Made a Good 'un - Burger Delish, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

I've been watching David make the perfect burger. Seems to be in the
freshness, how long you pack it for, when you salt it, etc. I was
pretty hungry after leaving my shared work space In Good Company, and
it's right next to The Shake Shack. Well, even though it's like
50degrees so far this summer, the line was still long. I bought a Kit
Kat and navigated the subways home. I almost ordered a burger from our
new deli thing which really specializes in gyros, but then I
remembered the frozen pound of meat in the freezer. I got out the
Wedding Grill Thing and got to burger flipping. I'll take a side of
mushrooms on that chedder burger.

Oh, please ignore that sad tea kettle in the back. I melted it and
need to get another. :)

Latest Katie James Pixelated Web Projects - Food, Jewelry, Bridal

2009-06-16T17:56:00.004-05:00

So you know I go disappearing sometimes. Well, sometimes many projects are spinning at once. So, this is where I've been, with the Katie James Pixelated team, building and designing custom designed blogs, special tweaks to websites, and whole redesigns. We're currently working on a couple more, to be unveiled soon...

Alisa Benay's Blog, Couture Corset Wedding Gown Designer

Alisa's couture line of corset wedding gowns is quickly growing in popularity, and she needed her blog to keep the pace and reflect well of the brand. We custom designed her blog, using the WordPress platform.
www.alisabenay.com/blog

The Purcell Sisters

The Purcell Sisters, if you haven't met them, are some of the funniest, well manicured southern belles living in Manhattan. They wrote a book, Cocktail Parties Straight Up! to help everyone throw an amazing party. Thankfully, they have brought their delicious recipes to the Internet. We redesigned their website to be way more user friendly (their former website was all in images) and easy to navigate. If you go to this website, you will leave hungry. Very hungry.
www.purcellsisters.com

Gemma Redux :: Press, Lookbook and Announcement Box
Press page: (updates like adding products)

Announcement Box: (can be turned on or off in seconds)

Rachel Dooley, designer and founder of Gemma Redux, is on fire. She is getting press from major outlets, and her fans are loving it. We worked with the ZenCart platform to make this press easy to update, and connect to the jewelry.
www.gemmaredux.com

For more information on other websites, see www.katie-james.com/classes

My Brother's Birthday - Burger King Crown

2009-06-07T23:31:00.001-05:00

My Brother's Birthday - Burger King Crown, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

It's double Gemini over here, and my brother even married another
Gemini! I married a Pisces. His wife Lily, founder of the dance troupe
Skove Works, organized this almost surprise birthday for his 30th
until he somehow found out about it. Lots of their friends were there,
including Alia of OMG Kitty (seriously, google that blog right now)
and the night was topped of with delicious carrot cake from Whole
Foods! Doesn't his crown look like the kind from Burger King happy
meals?

He remembered!

2009-06-05T19:50:00.001-05:00

He remembered!, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

At noonish, and decided to wait until he could tell me in person...at
8pm... :)

What do you do when Husband forgets your Birthday?

2009-06-05T17:08:00.002-05:00

It's a giant mystery, really. Today is June 5th. The day of my birthday. And I don't care what anybody says, everyone is Queen for the Day on their birthdays. Even if it rains, is terrible, what. And today was a great day actually, despite the rain and despite my very hard attempts at leaving this computer to go treat myself to a tour of the Met (didn't happen). But then Mugi Pottery needed an email sent out and pictures posted pronto because their Associates Show is tonight, Sabina kicked some serious entrepreneur butt for Collective-E on BetterTV (click the Start Your Own Business part), and birthday wishes galore in Facebook.

So. This morning my husband, who gets up every morning at 5:30am to get to work on Step Up 3, decided not to wake me, and to let me sleep. On my birthday. He normally wakes me up to say goodbye. I guess I was radiating Sleeping Beauty Queen - Do Not Disturb.

I gave him plenty of hints. I said that my brother's birthday was Sunday, and isn't it fun that he is here and we can see him. I invited David to have drinks with friends of mine, but didn't say why. Just that we were meeting. Last night, he got in after a boys night at a steak house, and was so excited about the left over steak he brought home, and how I could eat it for breakfast. He then turned on the TV to catch the Obama speech. Oddly, on CNN, there were tons of birthday commercials. Not sure why, but it was odd. Then, and by this time David had passed out sort of, Charlie Rose was wishing happy birthday to someone. The coincidences.

So back to this morning of no birthday wish. We even spoke on the phone, he asked me what was on the docket. I told him that I was taking myself to the Met. Kind of abnormal for me. During the work day. But nothing. No recollection. He did mention that he thought he had one more thing to tell me, but no, nothing. Later in the day, his Dad called. That's an occasion that does not happen often, and I was glad to hear from him. No mention of birthday, but that's totally normal - he's a dad, and dad's sometimes just don't know these things. Like husbands, I guess, don't know these things.

So, I'm not yet in the camp that says: "You must remind your husband of these things." I'm just not there yet. Someday maybe. For his own children, yes, I would remind him. For his family, yes, I would make sure he called. But for me, no. It's just me and my little party!

Identity Crisis Solved! Who IS FashionMista?

2009-05-31T12:40:00.004-05:00

You don't know this, but I've been having an identity crisis with FashionMista because I created the name on a whim one day while working. Sometimes words just pop into my mind and I don't know why, but I like them and keep them. So, the name FashionMista was born.

But I've been trying to figure out what Mista meant, and why I did it. Originally, a friend of mine had created a blog called New York City Mouse. My other friend had a similar mouse-like name for her online identity, so in my mind, to hang with them in mouse-land, Mista meant mouse, but in German (my version of German anyway). Well, years later, I looked it up, and it turns out I made that up and was totally wrong. Hehe.

Long time followers of this blog may also remember that sometimes I try to do redesigns of the blog, since it is a template after all, and I am a website designer/developer, so wouldn't it be fitting if my own blog was custom designed? But then I design it in circles and can never follow what I'm doing. Why? Because there has been no identity.

THEN, for the past few years, I've wanted to graduate this blog into a blog shop - yeah that's right, where you buy from this blog because I do love featuring other designers. Haven't done it for a while because all of that type of energy goes to promoting people on Collective-E in new and exciting ways, but I'm getting back to my roots over here to drum it up again. So I've been trying to pin down the name - do I keep it? What would it change to? What the heck does Mista mean?

Google searches tell me that "fashionmista" is now associated with a male fashionista. And I'm not a boy, so I wonder if this giant sign that says "Male Fashionista" for all of this girly stuff is a bad thing? But I loved nicknaming people So and So Mista, and I just love the word Mista.

Then yesterday, I was having a co-birthday lunch with my best girl Dental Mista from Chicago, and we were down in Soho having lunch in an Italian restaurant on Thomson Street, and voila! Right there on the menu in the Insalata section was: "Insalata Mista".

Rejoice! When I went to Italy my Junior year of college, Insalata Mista was what I always ordered to follow every pasta meal! So it means "mixed salad", (and wikipedia backs me up here, and even Google is going there) and Mista, I guess, would mean "mixed".

So...FashionMista basically means "Mixed Fashion", which I kind of like! This blog has always been about curious forms of art and design, among other things like beauty and personal. A big mix.

Question is: Should I keep it on, even though it has been meaning Male Fashionista, or should I delve into an old pen name that my College of Charleston Mistas will remember: Dear Trudy, which was my love advice column. I can see how a shopping blog could work under a title of Dear Trudy and I could make it J Peterman like...thoughts??? Or I could make Dear Trudy a series on it with special worldy finds, kind of like Conversations with Emerging Designers was a series. Hmm. Please comment! I really need your help on this one!

The Gazpacho Shake Recipe

2009-05-29T14:34:00.002-05:00

The Gazpacho Shake Recipe, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

I think every summer I pull out the gazpacho fixings, but really, it's
for any time. Here is a great, mini-version of the gazpacho that is
great brain food at any time of the day - breakfast, lunch, fresh
snack...

Use the Rocket Blender. We got it for our wedding. AmAzing.

Slice half a carrot. Put it in the blender cup.
Slice a quarter green pepper. Put it in the blender cup.
Slice a quarter cucumber. Put it... Right.
Slice half or quarter tomatto. Put it in the blender cup.
Opptional: put some fresh spinach in there for extra brain power for
women.
Cut a lemon in half and squeeze it into the cup. If you have one of
those lemon or orange squeezers, use that. Lemons are also good for
your skin and ph balance if you've had too much coffee.
Dash some salt on the top.
Pour about a teaspoon of olive oil. Good for your shiny hair.
Drizzle a bit of white wine vinigar or white wine vinigar in top. If
you like it really tart, than use more. I just use a little to accent
the flavor (too much of it makes me flushed in the face).
Screw the top on of your Rocket Blender.
Blend that sucker. Shake it up and down a few times to help the
carrots get blended.
Let it blend for about 2 minutes.
Put it into a pretty juice glass, and you've got a gazpacho shake that
you can drink!

I Just Wrote in a Journal

2009-05-22T20:46:00.006-05:00

And what's even more shocking, is that when I went to get to this blog, I typed in www.facebook.com. Ahhh! And I really don't even spend that much time in there. I just go to play Farm Town anymore and harvest my crops and make fake money at market when I sell my crops. And say hi to people every now and then. And see what they're doing quick. And click that I 'like' what they just said. And maybe comment. Stop.

When I got the hankering to write in the journal, actually write with a pen with ink, I lamented the fact that I didn't have one. I mean, I actually do have one, and it's a nice leather bound journal I bought on sale at my favorite neighborhood art supply store on Columbia's campus, but I use it as a master todo list system. And then I remembered, the read leather bound journal tucked away on my bookshelf with my special books from authors like Isabelle Allende and the first Harry Potter book I ever bought (the mass market edition). The last entry was a dream and it was from 2007.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, when most of what you do is type, I think the brain begins to be...very front. You're looking at pixels, that are glowing, your mind is traveling in a million places at once because you get so many ideas at once, and you know how to execute them, but then you have to eat lunch or walk your dog or answer an email quick or look at something else or go to your online banking to make sure everything is ok....and so on.

The point is...I'm not sure what my point is anymore because I've gotten distracted by my burger from the Abby Pub which is slowly going cold, and the digital glow in a dark living room may be sapping my brain. And if I'm all about getting back to my roots, I may not want to be sapped. I guess the point is: I wrote in a journal, with a pen that has ink. When I started the blog, I feared that I would stop writing, like, physically not typing. And I like typing, a lot. Don't get me wrong. But something is going on with all of this digital twitter status email pinging everything, that I just wanted paper inside of leather that goes nowhere. Yes, spoken by a girl who is about to trademark the words Socialness and Tweetworking and is about to "twurl this" blog post. :)

Hybrid Banana Chocolate Chip Cookie Popper Recipe

2009-05-20T20:36:00.005-05:00

Since my random foray into cookie making this afternoon prompted such a delicious response on Facebook, with requests for the recipe, I will deliver.

First of all, there is an emotion to this baking. Kind of like in Like Water for Chocolate. I don't know what prompted me to make these cookies in the middle of a busy work day, but I did. And sometimes that motivation makes a difference. Favorite parts about making cookies:

1. I get to mix them in our new ice blue wedding KitchenAid. I like adding ingredients. I don't measure anything, but do follow a recipe. So be careful.
2. I like the batter. I get a hankering for batter, and make the chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes an entire day can go by without me tasting the finished product.

But you really want the recipe for the hybrid banana chocolate chip cookie poppers. Here it is. In my language:

INGREDIENTS
2 sticks of butter (1 cup) - room temperature (Yes, do this 2-3 hrs before. Do not microwave it.)
2 eggs
1 overripe banana (brown on all sides, almost ready for trash)
3/4 cups white granulated sugar
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla (a generous tsp)
2ish cups flour
1 tsp dashes of baking soda
several dashes of salt
1/2 or 3/4 bag of 11.5oz chocolate chips
muffin tin

DIRECTIONS
Several hours before you are ready to mix the ingredients, take the butter out of the fridge and let it get to room temperature. It is advised to do this with the eggs as well, but if you have a tendency to forget to make this recipe in time, then leave the eggs in the fridge. The banana should be already overripe ie several days old.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degree F.

In a bowl of appropriate size, combine the flower, baking soda and salt.

In a mixing bowl, mix the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the banana. If you're not already beating on slow, turn your beater or mixer onto a slower speed. Not the slowest, but slower. Gradually pour in the flour mixture. Make sure all of the batter gets mixed and is not stuck inside the whisks. Use a rubber spatula to gingerly push the batter down the sides of the bowl, if it has been pushed up. Beat for about 1.5 minutes. Do not over-beat (it might encourage the cookies to be flat).
HINT: If the batter has gathered in the center of the spinning whisks, lift the whisks out of the batter (but not out of the bowl) and the batter will spin off, back into the bowl.

Let sit for 2 minutes. Do the dishes in the meantime. Or lightly grease the muffin tin with butter. You'll need to grease the muffin tins even if they are teflon.

Take your rubber spatula and/or a spoon and drop dollops of batter into each muffin tin. Fill a little less than 75%.

Cook for 10 minutes or until just after you smell the best smell of chocolate chip banana bread coming out of the oven. Not right as the good smell happens, but right after.

Please let us know how they turned out! And if you have your own twist to the recipe, please share.

Just. Be. Nice. In Social Networks, and Your Life.

2009-05-19T23:11:00.000-05:00

This is your social networking captain speaking. As you may know, I do a little advising of it for a living. It's basically unspoken rules in how to be polite online, how to not pester but get a message across, that sort of thing. Here's the deal people. In today's world, everything is connected. If you are a teenager, or just having come out as an adult, your social networks need to be cleaned up. I don't care what you say, and I hear you saying it: "But I won't accept any friends who are bosses, so I don't care! I'll put that beer mug in my profile picture if I want to! I'll swear to my friends! I'll do anything I want!"

Fine. You do that, but I warn you: You will be found out.

Let's focus on Facebook. If you don't accept your mom, or your uncle, or your boss, you may have accepted a friend of theirs, who can see everything that you do. Every little comment you leave on a friend's trail of photos. Every slanderous statement you make about a friend behind their back to your other friends. Every snarky little comment you make, every permiscuous comment, it is very, very possible for it to get to the person you are not intending. Whether you have blocked non-friends from seeing it in your Privacy settings, you still have accepted some friend, somewhere, who will read it, and verbally report back, or second-hand see a comment because they are a direct friend.

As for current adults on Facebook, people can speak behind people's backs, and possibly feel safe. They can revert back to childhood, and say mean things about people. Unfortunately, in moments of nostalgia, friends who may not have been friends with people in childhood will find each other in Facebook and run through fields of green, into each other's arms, and click "Accept" when it comes to acecpting new friendship with each other.

Trouble is, these friends are all connected on the internet, so they see every little dribble of words you intend to be private. Heck, even Twitter makes mistakes, flakes out, and publishes DMs (direct messages) every now and then. Oops. So when friends are indirectly connected with each other, word travels fast. Conversations you never had directly with someone can be known to them in an instant. Pieces of the puzzle can be fit together and revelations made and questions created.

Facebook is a scary place in that regard. If you're going to be mean. If you are going to have a sliver of mean-ness, and if you care about that, it is possible that all of the wrong people see that. It is possible that Google sees it and now your information is floating all over search results. Do you remember when I blogged about that celebrity without asking his permission? And how fast he learned? And how fast his laywers sent me a scary PDF?

That's right. Be nice people. Be nice. If you are not nice, the Facebook Santa will find out, and he will bring you coal.

The Double Dinah Gerdy Pillow

2009-05-06T14:58:00.002-05:00

The cuteness overfloweth.

Where is Oliver?

2009-05-06T14:56:00.002-05:00

Sleeping, silly.

Sabina guest blogs katies Headshot Day

2009-05-02T11:58:00.001-05:00

Sabina guest blogs katies Headshot Day, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Hey Mistas!

It's Sabina, Katies partner at Collective-E. It's Headshot day and
Katie is looking fierce and working on sustaining the same smile she's
been wearing since 11 am!

We r lucky to have amazing photographer Tanzie Johnson behind the
camera - www.tanziephoto.com.

And the Wine Giveaway Winner for Layer Cake and Anu Karwa is...!

2009-04-28T15:15:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to Stephen Tiano of http://www.tianodesign.com/ for the personal wine consultation with wine expert Anu Karwa, and Stephan also gets a free bottle of Layer Cake to try, courtesy of the wine branding experts, Vintage Point! Based on some of Stephen's tweets, he is a wine lover who loves exploring new ones and getting educated on them. See what everyone entered into the giveaway, and which celebrity wine reviews they liked.

And our runner up winner is Sonia of http://www.pulpology.com/ because she loves the Freakout white wine, and so do I! We had it at our wedding, and I snagged a few bottles for the honeymoon. Can't get enough of it.

Until the next Giveaway! Thanks to everyone who entered. Be sure to sign up for the RSS Feed if you want to find out when the next one is, and for what fun prize...

Collective-E's Social at Swing Boutique

2009-04-22T19:08:00.001-05:00

Collective-E's Social at Swing Boutique, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Our Collective-E Social is at Swing Boutique up in Harlem (where David
and I want to move) and we are exchanging what's been working for our
businesses...Some creative solutions! www.collective-e.com

Giveaway: Layer Cake Wine & Personal Wine Shopping/Consultation

2009-04-17T09:57:00.009-05:00

NOTE: this wine giveaway has ended....see who the winners were.

YUM.
Here it is: the dual wine giveaway! The winner will get a bottle of Layer Cake Wine, courtesy of Vintage Point, Napa's hippest new wine boutique, and a wine consultation or shopping experience with New York's savviest wine expert, Anu Karwa, owner of Swirl Events (can be telephone, so you can be from anywhere). Here's what you're vying for, and here is how to enter:

BOTTLE OF LAYER CAKE from VINTAGE POINT
Layer Cake is the most delicious wine ever. Inspired by chocolate cake baked by the founder's grandparents, Layer Cake is taking wine drinkers by storm. In the words of the creator's Grandfather: "The vines," he would say, "lived in layers of soil just like the layers in Grandma’s cake; each layer bringing a different flavor." He explained the flavors and smells of the wine in a similar way, always comparing them to the layer cake sitting on the kitchen counter.

Layer Cake is represented by Vintage Point, which offers services to wineries in sales, marketing, importation and general management. Vintage Point is independently owned and exclusively focuses on winery brand and market development within the US, Canada and Caribbean marketplace in the ultra-premium and luxury price points. Their mission is to help these producers overcome the barriers they face in getting their wines to market.

Win a bottle of Layer Cake, and have it shipped to you to enjoy on a Friday or Saturday evening in the new dusk of spring. If Napa Valley is feeling generous, there may even be TWO winners of Layer Cake.

TO ENTER: Go to the shopping destination for Vintage Point and report back to FashionMista via the Comments below which wine that Vintage Point represents would you like to drink right now (if it's morning time when you're reading this, then think of this evening).
Go there now >

PERSONAL WINE SHOPPING or CONSULTATION with ANU KARWA of SWIRL EVENTS
Anu Karwa is the founder and CEO of Swirl Events. Anu created Swirl Events, an in-home and corporate wine tasting party company with a fresh, hip approach located in NYC. She combined her passion for wine and bringing her friends together for memorable evenings. After earning her Advanced Certification from the internationally recognized Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) – and through her tasting experiences – she realized wine did not have to be complicated or stuffy.

Win a two-hour consultation (phone) or personal wine shopping experience (in NYC) with the owner/sommelier of Swirl Events. Get her expertise to stock up the wines your home, choose the wines for your wedding or big celebration, and any other type of food & wine pairing question you might have. If you're located in NYC, she'll be your personal wine shopper!

TO ENTER: Go to the Swirl Events blog and report back to FashionMista via the Comments below what is your favorite celebrity wine review that Anu wrote. You'll know it's a celebrity wine review because you'll see the celebrity heads on top of the wine bottle.
Get the wine reviews here.

TO RECAP:
- Leave a Comment at FashionMista with your answers to the two questions above.
- To claim your prize, I must be able to reach you. You can A). Email fashionmista@gmail.com after you leave your comment, and tell me which comment it was. B.) Leave your website or blog, and I'll contact you via your Contact Us page or comments area.
- Deadline: Monday, April 20th at midnight (we'll be drinking Layer Cake as we finalize the results)
- Location does not matter for the wine consultation. If you live in NYC, Anu can do a personal wine shopping experience. Otherwise, she can educate you over the phone, and lay your mind at ease when it comes to buying wine for dinner, a wedding, or a party.

Amazing ONLINE GemmaRedux Sample Sale This Friday

2009-04-16T10:18:00.003-05:00

Don't miss this - your chance to buy Gemma Redux pieces at her one day only sample sale. I know I will be there. Do you know how hard it is to work on her website, and not place real orders? I place test orders to make sure things are working correctly. What a great chance to build my jewelry collection. Although, I will buy her at full price as well, it's just that this sample sale sprung up suddenly...And it's ONLINE! Everyone can come! The event will happen on her blog, so go to her blog for details. It's starts at 11am on Friday (tomorrow).

A Wine Giveaway is Coming...

2009-04-12T17:51:00.007-05:00

I love wine. I don't know about you, but I don't know much about wine. I do know that when I went to Tuscany my Junior year of college, I feel like I drank wine for the first time, even though I'd been drinking it with my family around the Christmas table for years (in college, I hadn't started drinking wine yet...just a lot of amaretto sours). Before Tuscany, wine was something that I drank and usually gave me a headache. I seemed to only like white, and I didn't realize it, but I mainly drank Beringer, which is from California.

After my Italian experience, red wine became my favorite, especially chianti. Then I worked in a french restaurant, and wine became a part of life, specifically merlots. Now that I've married David, he has brought pinot noirs into my life, and it is my current favorite. Although, I'm still prone to ordering it wrong at a restaurant by simply saying: "I'll take a Pinot," and a white wine arrives.

So it is with much anticipation that the New York based wine expert, Anu Karwa from Swirl Events, is doing a giveaway for FashionMista readers! Anu is exceedingly charming, and can do anything from serve select wines at a party for you while educating guests about what they are drinking, to giving private wine consultations about how to plan wine drinking for your party, or even helping you pick it out at the grocery store.

The wine giveaway is now happening! Click here for details.

Hair in "Normal" Times of Styling

2009-04-10T19:06:00.003-05:00

Hair in "Normal" Times of Styling, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Who knew a ponytail gone wild could have launched a motherly protest in Facebook. There were honest to goodness revolts going on. Mom threatened to pull out of her highly anticipated trip to NYC, and dad declared that he could finally be like Harrison Ford and wear and earring...to keep up with my "punk" look.

So for you doubters, who actually thought that I colored one side of my hair brown, and the other side blond, here you have the evidence of the "normal" style of it, all nice and neat with the help of Aveda Smoothing Fluid and an old fashioned blow dryer and round brush (I've fired my flat iron...it's frying my fresh ends). It's actually the other way around: blond on top, brown underneath. A hybrid.

Look at the Two Tone

2009-04-04T12:05:00.002-05:00

Look at the Two Tone, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Last weekend David was nice enough to drive us up to New Haven so that I could get my haircut with my favorite colorist at Laurell Oullette Salon. This isn't a styled version of my hair, it's the version that just spun out of a tight bun, but you get the idea of the color. Fun.

New Way for Designers to Make Money? Or Stop the Bleeding

2009-04-03T09:20:00.007-05:00

A PR friend sent this WWD article to me for my interest, and while I don't know her position, I do know that this will be viewed as something that is not viable, or as a way for a designer to make money. In my opinion, this is a great way to stop the bleeding from sending samples everywhere without ever getting them back. Not to mention the shipping costs that are not recouped. Here is the article from WWD:

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT: Lots of designers have trimmed their budgets for press samples lately, but James Perse is going to an extreme, making editors purchase products in order to shoot it. Under the brand’s new policy, euphemistically named the “Studio Sales Discount,” editors must prepay by credit card for product, minus a 10 percent discount. They have 10 days, not a day more, to return the product for a refund, minus a 20 percent restocking fee. James Perse will not accept returns of T-shirts, (which are its bread and butter,) undergarments, footwear or bathing suits. Apparently, the company has decided an editorial credit isn’t worth more than 30 percent of the cost of a T-shirt. Returns will only be processed by the brand’s Melrose Avenue store in Los Angeles — not a showroom or press office. Still interested, editors? The first step is to fill out a credit application. Later on, if you need to transfer the account to a colleague or a successor, you will be required to notify James Perse by certified mail.

This really shows the skeptical view of PR, the effort involved, and the unguaranteed sales from it. Yet, PR by certain outlets opens doors to other outlets and even stores. Not to mention the people swayed by what they see in the glossies. It also might give a nod to the power of the internet and word of mouth sales, banking on the presence that designers can build for themselves with a lot of effort.

Mista Readers: What do you think?

How My iPhone Got Semi-Stolen at Starbucks

2009-03-27T07:18:00.002-05:00

It was a perfectly glorious sunny Monday afternoon. Murphy's Law has been in effect for me for about two weeks now, so it was no surprise that my internet went out on Monday morning at 11am. When I have several deadlines swirling around at once, I try to schedule out my day, and cannot waste one hour. Normally, if my internet were to go out, I'd take the subway down to In Good Company and work in their delightful space. But I didn't want to take the subway time, so I went to my local Starbucks at W. 103 and Broadway.

Everything was jelling, and they even had my favorite type of donut. Many home office workers were in there, and a newly laid off media type who was persistently picking up a young woman sitting next to me, who doubled as an actress and some kind of graduate student. I went to the bathroom, and she agreed to watch my things, which included laptop, bag, iPhone. I came back with no trouble.

A few hours later, the girl had left, and another graduate student took her place. He was the silent type, brooding in his studies, but a frat boy type, so it's odd because they are normally cheery. I had a client call at 4pm, so at 3:50pm, went to use the bathroom. I asked the brooding student to watch my stuff, to which he nodded.

There was a line at the bathroom, of course. The person in the bathroom was taking a very loooong time, and we could hear some running water and other commotion. Usually when this happens in New York, the person is homeless and is bathing. Sure enough, the person came out, a tough looking woman, who was clearly homeless, but her clothes were clean, hair spiked, earrings, that sort of thing. She walked past the drink counter and ask the barrista if he had any leftovers, and he didn't, but told her when to come back. She proceeded to wander around, surveying the room, and took a seat opposite mine at my table, which was now empty because I was standing in line. That was a bummer, because now I had to have a client call with a homeless person across from me, but whatever.

So I left the line to sit back down at my table. I gathered my things to make room for the new guest (at Starbucks, sometimes you share tables when there aren't any left). The plug to my earrbuds caught my eye. They were naked, plugged into nothing. I looked at the table, trying to remember if I put my iPhone in my bag, and then looked at the brooding grad student. He simply nodded his head, and I looked at the woman, and said: "Give it back."

She said: "I don't have it."
Me: "Yes you do. Give me my phone back."
Woman: "Some dude was sitting here"
Me: "No there wasn't. Give it back."
Woman: "Do you want to search me?"
Me: "Yes. Give it back."
Woman: "Ok, let's go in the back" ewwwwwww
Me: "No. Give it back."
She began to stand up. I panicked. I wasn't going to let her get out of there with my phone in her pocket. I asked the brooding grad student if I could borrow his phone to call the police. He ignored me. Incredulous and stunned, I turned to two college age girls who were sitting behind me, and asked them if I could borrow their phone to call the police, because this woman stole my phone. They also were deaf to my plea.

The homeless woman started walking. I doubled round to the front of the Starbucks to block the doors. Or just stand there. I'm not sure if I actually would have held the doors and done something totally foolish looking. I took a deep breath and announced to the store:

"Can somebody please lend me their phone? This woman just stole my phone and I need to call the police."

Finally, another woman held her phone up, saying "Here, use mine." And I proceeded to dial 911, where I was met with questions that weren't getting me anywhere. I told the operator I was at W. 103 and Broadway, and she asked if I was in Manhattan. Are there other intersections of that name? Maybe. Don't they have GPS? Grr.

A Starbucks employee began talking to the woman. He asked her what was she thinking, and to give back the phone. At this point, she was standing at the drink counter, just hanging out there. As I was getting nowhere fast with 911, he suddenly handed my phone to me. I saw my little orange and black WellAlarm sticker on the back, and was hugely relieved. I gave the nice hero her phone, and went to my seat to collapse. I couldn't decide if I should apologize to the brooding grad student for putting him in that position, or for asking what the H$&(# was he thinking to do nothing to help?

At that point, a girl behind me started speaking to me, telling me that this homeless woman is in there all the time, and that she had given her an apple fritter once, and the woman suggested that it would go much better with coffee. She said that from that point on, the woman attached herself to her. The conversation went on for a bit, but I was too rattled to stay, so I packed up my things and headed home.

STANGENESS PART II:

I rescheduled the call, which then affected the timing of another call scheduled for 5:30pm, and went home to check on my internet. Still nothing. I headed off to Sip, another coffee shop in my neighborhood with internet. I had both calls there, continued through emails, edits to Collective-E, and finally called it a day at 9:30pm, which is normal for me these days. At Sip, they are so nice and wonderful, and to pay for my time there to keep the local store alive, I had gone from afternoon coffee time, to a muffin, to happy hour. So, latte, muffin, extremely tall beer.

As I was walking home, actually to pick up a burrito on the way, I saw her - the homeless woman - walking in the opposite direction. I always look at people to see who they are and keep moving. I just like to stay alert. I stared for too long (stunned that it was her), and she stopped, took her ski hat off, and pleaded with me to stop. I thought she was going to stab me, so I kept walking. She begged still, and I did stop to listen. She had been praying to God that she would see me so that she could apologize. She told me about her situation (girlfriend was on the lease, took all of her money from her bank account, can't afford shelters, so can't shower, so can't go to work in Queens, etc.). A few times she may have teared up, but it could have been the cold as she was telling me of her 6 days experience on the street. I told her that despite her losing all of her money, the phone was the way I make my living. She apologized for causing me that stress.

After I accepted her apology, she asked if I would go back to the Starbucks the next day, or whenever, and tell them that she apologized. They know her. I said sure. The words of the girl at Starbucks stayed in my mind, that this woman would attach herself if given anything. So I did not give her anything. I didn't have any change or bills in my pockets, and I don't open my purse in that situation. I felt badly, but she just stole my phone, right? I mean, what would Jesus do? He would probably give money, but I couldn't. I could have bought her some chips at the burrito place, but I feared the attachment.

So I went home and took a hot shower. And I realized that I was taking a shower to warm up, and she couldn't even take one to get clean to go to work. So. I don't know why this happened, but I'm going to remember the things that I do have access to, and be grateful. And I'm going to go to In Good Company when my internet goes out.

Dinah needs a Katie James Sleep Mask

2009-03-24T10:09:00.002-05:00

Dinah needs a Katie James Sleep Mask, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

I think Dinah needs a sexy sleep mask, don't you?

My Mister

2009-03-20T17:05:00.001-05:00

My Mister, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Look how his claws just rest perfectly, sunken into my pleather bag.

Watch Your Inboxes! Daily Candy Spots Some of Best Jewelry - Gemma Redux

2009-03-17T23:08:00.011-05:00

You'll notice that the posts on this blog have been slow, well here's why: we're helping whoever wants it with websites. Gemma Redux needed us to convert their cart from a custom constructed shopping cart to ZenCart, and boy oh boy, did we break apart ZenCart and put it back together again to keep her classy design. As we were building the site, mosing along, I got an email from Rachel of Gemma Redux, telling me that there was a good chance that Daily Candy was going to feature them, and can we make the site live asap. As we say at Collectie-E: Yes we can do that! Or as Tim Gun says: Make it work!

So we've been making it work, but how could we not. Gemma Redux designs are like nothing you've ever seen before. Chains, stones, fabric, knots, oh boy. As we were cropping each image to make the detail shot (yes, our handywork is on every single thing you look at there), I have to admit, that I kind of wanted to eat those chains. I know it's weird. But I am so in love with her jewelry. I mean, what makes her tick? What is she thinking as she sits at her desk designing, to create these combinations? And did you know that she was a lawyer in a past life, and just recently quit? Yes! She quit in this economy. And she is a Collective-E member, which means that we pitch members all the time, whether they submit themselves or not (sometimes the pitches are just too quick a turn-around so we run with it), and Rachel was one of the five entrepreneurs and Collective-E members that were included in a Reuters article that was picked up by Forbes.com and Yahoo News right away.

Anyway, so visit Gemma Redux with the rest of the Daily Candy followers. Here's her post! Meanwhile, we'll be typing away on our keyboards and on the phone with servers to make sure that her website sustains the flood of traffic it will hopefully get. Yay!

American Laser Center Review: Refund Request Denied

2009-03-07T15:17:00.003-05:00

The final verdict on my request for a refund from American Laser Centers is...denied. The office took several pictures of the areas that I was disputing, and submitted them to the "medial team" or whatever. Taking the pictures was the most unprofessional experience ever. This is nothing against the technician who took them, but unfortunately, they did not provide her training with how to best use the camera. If you don't know how to work a digital camera inside, you can get very bad photographs. And for something like this, when you need to capture visual details of your skin, and how many hair follicles are empty, this will not cut it.

The digital camera was tiny, and much less sophisticated than my basic Canon Powershot A610. I had to help the girl figure it out, and ended up taking pictures myself. I took them to the front desk, and politely insisted that the manager download them into her computer so that I could be sure it had happened. When I got home, I took more pictures with my camera, which turned out better and revealed more stubble detail, and emailed them to her.

After about two weeks, she responded with the news that the medical team advised me to continue getting treatments. Mind you, I've had 15 treatments. I'm no scientist, but I don't know the total effects of laser hair removal, and I already have one mystery freckle that wasn't there before, so doing more treatments is not an option for me. She also offered free treatments in other areas, which of course I did not take.

The next step would be to file a claim against them with the Better Business Bureau. My treatment was $2000 and I want half of it back. At this time, I am building and managing two businesses (and a few blogs!), so it's hard to dedicate the time to do this. I have seen and appreciate the comments on this blog from people who want to organize. I am an organizer at heart, but I'm not feeling like I can lead the charge on this one. I do feel that American Laser Center is a total scam and is ineffective for most people. It seems that their training of office people is extremely inconsistent, based on the different stories this blog has gotten regarding customer service.

So at this time, I think my roll in all of this is to be an outlet to people as they do online research, to warn them not to go with American Laser Centers. That everyone wins that stupid $300 prize, and that most likely, you will NOT be done in 6 appointments. If I suddenly learn more about how to file a claim, I may do it. Hopefully there is not a time issue, but there probably is. So...I may be googling it... ;)

Gerdy with Snow on her Nose

2009-03-03T08:11:00.001-05:00

Gerdy with Snow on her Nose, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Gerdy has been waiting all season for this snowfall...

The cutest ever - Gerdy used Dinah as pillow

2009-02-16T18:42:00.001-05:00

The cutest ever - Gerdy used Dinah as pillow, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Happy Valentine's Day! From Pez

2009-02-14T08:58:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! From Pez, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Happy Vday everyone. Treat yourself to a nice cup of Starbucks, a
pedi, a impromptu hot stone massage, anything. This is a pink heart
pez from David. Super fun. In the background, on my computer, is an
installation of Machine Wash image filters from Mr. Retro. David wants
to open up a top secret something special, and needs a logo. We liked
the fancy "worn" look that everyone is doing these days in graphic
design, so I bought the filters that create it from Mr. Retro.
Hopefully I will design something good! It's part of my Valentines Day
to him. That, and he has kindly told me, after talking to the 101th
person who loves their iPhone and their apps, that I can get him one
for his birthday in March. Ha. So, this vday, I did get him a hint: a
mysterious iPhone cover...

OMG, Maybe the Cutest Dog/Baby Video of All Time

2009-02-12T17:45:00.001-05:00

Right? I spotted this in my Twitter feed from @EcoPup and @MinPinRescue.

DinahBear on this blowy windy day

2009-02-12T14:33:00.001-05:00

DinahBear on this blowy windy day, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

If You're Going to be in Philly and Love Paper...

2009-02-04T13:39:00.004-05:00

Then don't miss a mini craft show in Philly at Tbar on Saturday Feb 7th from 1-3pm. I don't know what Tbar is, but I do know that Melissahead Yabberings will be there. She goes in and out of craft hibernation, and she's coming out for 2 hours to sell her goods. Wish I was there! Please share with us what you get if you go.

Sharing my coffee mugs with you

2009-01-31T09:50:00.004-05:00

Sharing my coffee mugs with you, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Here are my little coffee mugs, a collection of which mostly fits in the cup cupboard, but there are two on display in the living room, and two that forever live on top of the espresso machine next to a sugar bowl because they were made by the same pottery studio, Damariscotta Pottery in Maine.

The morning routine goes like this:
Dinah crawls on my head, then continues to sleep there. Somehow on Saturdays, she knows that it's the weekend, and becomes ever more insistent, pacing from the bed to the bedside table to my head, thereby causing Oliver to be rowdy, and Gerdy to be particularly urgent about going outside.

I feed them all, put the kettle on for water, do left-over dishes, water the plants, and clear the counter to make coffee.

This is my favorite part. Each morning I think about what kind of mood I'm in, and choose from one of my little coffee mug friends to help nurture that mood the whole day through. My usual, hard at work mug, is the blue and white round one in the top left corner. It was my first official collectible piece of pottery. Even though I may be feeling hard at work while drinking from this mug, I feel like I can endure anything. The little blue one next to it with the bumble bee is if I'm feeling in hard at work mode, but with a lighter twist (am drinking from it now).

The two odd shaped ones - the gray and teal one up front and the teal bowl-like one on top of the canister are from Mugi Pottery and are also collectible pieces of pottery, but these ones I bought myself, so they are the first investments in pottery I've ever made. I was overcome with the collection, and also bought some for my brother and sister-in-law. These call my name when I'm feeling particularly quirky, almost in a sideways direction of creativity.

The cream, diner-like one is just that - a very thick mug from West's Hayward Creamery in WI that David and I bought when we were at a wedding. We were overcome with the cuteness of this little ice cream shop, and were respecting the entrepreneurship of it all. I drink out of this mug when I'm feeling hard at work, but want a fresh approach.

And finally, the newest addition to the bunch: the blue and white mug from Rosanna that is perched on the coffee grinder. This is my first piece of actual china (aside from a cute collection from Ikea). It is thin, but not too delicate, and the lines and whimsy on it are incredibly fresh. This mug called to me the morning of the Collective-E launch, because it signifies new life.

Then on Saturdays, when the day is mine and I'm beholden to no one (as a home office worker, if you're not one already, you will learn that you never leave your office, so you begin to carve out spaces in your mind of 'your' time, and time when you are answering to everyone), I listen to the back of my mind for a song. Usually there is one lingering back there, left-over from dreams. This morning, after I decided to blog about sharing my mugs with you, the term "sharing my mugs with you" reminded me of a Cowboy Junkies song, which I can't quite put my finger on. So, after the mug was selected, and the coffee was made, I tuned into the Cowboy Junkies Trinity Session and sat down to write this.

Oliver continues to run around in the background, and did just knock something over, but I'm not going to think about that. I'm just happy to share my mugs with you. ;)

What to Get Me for Valentine's Day

2009-01-28T12:37:00.002-05:00

Ok, seriously insanely good brownie: Sweet Muse. Founder Laura Siner was at the Collective-E launch party back in September, and she brought with her these brownies. I had never tasted them before, and when she was next in line to become a member, she gave me a little brownie bite, and I swear, I could hardly put her order through, I was so on cloud nine of chocolate goodness. So, do yourself a favor. Tell someone who loves you to give the gift of chocolate brownies from Sweet Muse.

Heartfelt Posts Go Missing from FashionMista

2009-01-22T15:48:00.004-05:00

It has been made awares to me that heartfelt posts have gone missing from FashionMista. And they really have, I'm not gonna lie. Ever since I learned how to upload a photo to my blog from my iPhone by way of Flickr, my posts have become very...situational and sporadic. Less of me sitting down, just me and the laptop and the music from the iPhone, churning the thoughts and designer spotlights that get typed into here.

I did write a heartfelt post today, and the Collecective-E Blog was the recipient. To be quite honest, and this is brutal honesty here, I've been a little consumed these last weeks, because while developing Collective-E, the ideas of which bring me such a high because we truly are developing things that help people, all of my energy has gone to one place (which in and of itself, is a lot of places), and I'm used to bouncing from computer to sewing machine to glitter glue. David's brother-in-law was here last week (oops...that was a month ago! see what I mean?), and they all left on a Friday for the afternoon into the evening. I finished all of my remaining miscellaneous layouts for Collective-E, and suddenly I was free to craft, free to clean, free to put together my cheesy "craft tote" bag thing that I got from Target. When the boys came home, I was proud to tell them that I had shut the computer down!

But when they got home, I did cheat on myself a bit, and happily checked emails on my iPhone. ;) I literally hid in my art supply closet to type replies, and David's brother-in-law turned the corner to spot me and wondered why I was hiding there. I think I just needed to be in a different place that smelled like glue and glitter and paper and organized mess. All I did that night was fill this craft tote with scissors (I have 7 pairs of scissors?!) and flower paper punches, but it felt so good.

But back to my heartfelt post. You really will like it. It's inspired by my kitchen geraniums, as are some other things I've made, and it is meant to be encouragement to all of us whose careers or ways of incomes are changing. It was a gift I 'made' for Beth and Sabina that I wanted to give when we launched, and we did launch, so I gave it at our first Collective Social of the year. Even though it's not here at FashionMista, I think you'll like it.

Fresh Hair Color

2009-01-20T22:56:00.002-05:00

Fresh Hair Color, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

As you know, I've been submerged in launching our new company, the new home for women entrepreneurs, Collective-E. And if you don't know about launching a website, they can take longer than expected. Especially when you are launching 3 other websites for clients at the
same time.

So, as if personal reputation wasn't enough, I declared that I would not cut or color my hair until the website launched. And let me tell you, that is hard. Every time I PMS, I crave getting my haircut. And I get strange urgings to jog, but I jog anyway, but these cravings are like, in the evening, I can't do anything else but run and feel my heart pounding.

Back to haircuts. So we've been on the verge of launching Collective-E for several weeks now, furiously emailing directions to each other while driving to respective holiday destinations. So come Xmas, I was in Columbus, OH, home of my husbands family, and destination of my Ohio hair cuttery, WTS, a salon run by two rock star men. My man, Glen, is also a bouncer, and an amazing hair stylist. So I couldn't resist sneaking away to him during one of four family Christmases.

Result? Blond on top, and Mocha #5 mixed with a little of #6 I think on the bottom. Doesn't it look like animal fur? He straight ironed it, and I haven't been able to get it quite that straight since.

But I share this with you now, because since I cheated, and cut and colored before the launch, I couldn't share it with you until the site launched...So...it has launched!!! Ans here is my refreshed haircut! Go visit www.collective-e.com and tell me if you think that it was
worth the wait...

Another cute cheap decorating idea with windows

2009-01-11T12:14:00.001-05:00

Another cute cheap decorating idea with windows, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

We are waiting in line at www.kitchenetteresteraunt.com on Amsterdam
and W. 122 in Harlem-ish, and I wanted to share with you this window
they hung above the dessert counter, decorated with buttons, and wrote
the prices of cupcakes, then cut out little drawings of cupcakes fir
extra cuteness. Voilà!

Most Interesting Sleepingbag Slippers Ever Owned

2009-01-10T17:05:00.001-05:00

Most Interesting Sleepingbag Slippers Ever Owned, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

These sleeping bag slippers showed up in my stocking at Christmas. I
just unpacked them and am trying them out. They are like a soft, no-
skeleton moon boot. I walked into the bedroom where Oliver the
Terrible sleeps and plots during daylight hours, and he was afraid. I
am a little afraid of them too. It's like this giant sack of down and
sleeping bag material tied around my feet, with a Dr. Scholl's pad for
the sole. They are such an interesting invention...

More Creative Uses for Cardboard - from Google!

2009-01-08T10:09:00.003-05:00

Remember when Jeni's Ice Cream made (or bought) those cute picture frames from cardboard? Well now Google engineers have been playing with cardboard, specifically Bloxes, which are like giant lego boxes, while they talk shop - you know, brainstorm bug fixes and new features. Tre fun, I say.

A Monster in My Suitcase!

2009-01-01T19:51:00.001-05:00

A Monster in My Suitcase!, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Oliver the Terrible, at it again.

Where's Dinah? Hiding!!

2008-12-31T11:55:00.001-05:00

Where's Dinah? Hiding!!, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

My Little Printer Family

2008-12-29T12:15:00.001-05:00

My Little Printer Family, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Santa tricked me into going to MicroCenter to look for someone elses
gift, but really it was because he heard my wishes for a color laser
printer! I wanted something that I could feed address lables and heavy
card stock through, and I've sworn off streaks and other wierdnesses
from ink jets. So, the MicroCenter guy led us to this Samsung, which
apparently has better quality that an hp for half the price. It also
has a feed tray on it for the lables so that they don't have to curl
around inside the printer.

On the right is my trusty hp1300 black and white laser printer that I
bought from Craigs Lust for $100. Love it so much for cranking out
pages and a long lifespan of a laser carterage.

So now you have met my printers.

Jeni's Ice Creams Storefront in Granview OH

2008-12-28T00:08:00.001-05:00

Jeni's Ice Creams Storefront in Granview OH, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Here is a picture of Jeni's Ice Creams at their Granview location in
Columbus, OH. We go here every single tine we visit Columbus.

A few Manhattenites know the flavor of the Jeni's, and place their
order online. I know I have, and I'm not alone. It arrives in freeze
dried ice and can last for hours. For our wedding, it was shipped
special, and boy did we love those left overs...

My flavor of choice this evening: Captain Morgans Burbon with homemade
hot fudge. Normally I do Salty Caramel...

Jeni's: my most favorite source of delicious inspiration

2008-12-27T22:52:00.001-05:00

Jeni's: my most favorite source of delicious inspiration, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Ok people, look at what Jeni's Ice Cream has down now. They have
created picture frames out of cardboard boxes. Yes, cardboard boxes
that they have painted the cardboard, and cut out the frame in a cute
shape. Then, in the storefront window, they have not only hung the
frames, but in the window where the frame hangs, Jeni's has painted in
cute words. I am overcome with cuteness. Google their website because
I can't link it because I'm on the iPhone...Jeni's Ice Cream in
Columbus Ohio.

Talking to Sister Kim for Xmas Dinner via Skype!

2008-12-23T21:42:00.001-05:00

Talking to Sister Kim for Xmas Dinner via Skype!, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Our adventerous sister is living in Argentina, and we get to have her
in our living room via web cam and Skype! Ignore our silly crowns.
They were our party favors when we sat down. Kim thinks we look like
pirates...

Mission Curry & Kabab: the best Indian food on Amsterdam in the Upper West Side

2008-12-13T00:10:00.001-05:00

Mission Curry & Kabab: the best Indian food on Amsterdam in the Upper West Side, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

It has become my mission: to raise awareness of my favorite Indian
restrrsunt, Curry and Kabab on Amsterdam Avenue in between W. 105 and
W. 106 in the upper west side of Manhattan.

On Friday nights, I used to crave a juicy burger. Over the years,
after living in New York, I have come to crave the creamy curry
deliciousness, Chicken Dildar, which is a cream based sauce with
pinapple juice and slices, mixed with suculent pieces of dark chicken
meat, scooped at your preference on a bed of rice. Thebest with it is
an order of the Poori, the very doughy fried dough stuff that is
steamed into a round ball.

So. Good. Curry & Kabab used to be on Broadway and a. 103rd syreat,
and was great to go unwind to a mango glacé or a glass of merlot if
you'd had a oarticularlly long week at the computer, because all of
theo Lights were on, the walls red, pictures of beautiful India
everywhere, and tall botles of Taj Mahal. Now the are located at
Amsterdam and W. 105thish. You must find them there. The Indian food
and the poori are more that worth it. It's a craving.

Make your own Reeses Cup, with a Spoon

2008-12-10T15:21:00.002-05:00

Make your own Reeses Cup, with a Spoon, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

So yummy, and so easy. And so right there in your cupboard so that you don't have to spend a dime extra to get your quick afternoon snackity fix.

Just have Nutulla chocolate, the Bees Knees peanut butter, and a spoon. Scoop one edge of the spoon in the Nutella, and the other edge of the spoon in the peanut butter.

Yummidy.

Holiday Gift Guide : Mista-tacular

2008-12-06T20:27:00.011-05:00

I'm very excited to give you some great last minute holiday gift ideas! Some have coupon codes to bring you extra savings. These are shops, designers, and more that I personally know, love, and am recommending to you. Happy shopping! And as always, you are helping to Buy Entrepreneur!

CHIQUE LIFE and CHIQUE PLUS

ChiqueLife and ChiquePlus is offering you 15% off both of her clothing sites sites. Enter MISTA at checkout.
Double your pleasure at one, and then the other for plus sizes.

ERTHE FAE DESIGNS : UNIQUE FANTASY JEWELRY
AJ, based in Arizona creates beautiful, one-of-a-kind fantasy jewelry. She draws inspiration from fantasy, mythology, and the beauty of the natural world. She also offers beautiful beads as she tries to "de-stash her overgrown collection."
Find one of a kind jewelry pieces

ROSANNA INC., BEAUTIFUL CHINA
I registered for lots of this china for the wedding. Not this china pictured here, but some beach cottage china, that may not all be there anymore.
Get this beautiful china before it's gone

BIJOU BOUTIQUE : UNIQUE HANDMADE JEWELRY
This designer, based in Florida, designed my bridesmaid earrings. Amazing. Every time I wear them, I get compliments. All of us did (oh, I ordered some for myself, of course ;) ). If you see something you like, she can customize it. So if it's not in her shop, just contact her.
Shop this jewelry

BESTOW BOUTIQUE
This New York based online shop is a fabulously fun and flirty store for you to browse in! She came to the Collective-E holiday party, and I found the cutest egg container of the freshest smelling black soap. Black soap? I know. Who knew it could smell so delightful.
Find lots of gift ideas...

FRETZELS
Watch out. These are serious chocolate covered pretzels. Probably the most buttery and salty and chocolate tasting chocolate covered pretzel you have ever tasted.
Order these now

SWEETMUSE
If the chocolate covered pretzels didn't get you, just wait until you bite into these chocolate brownies. Dangerous! Imagine having both of these bakers at a holiday party. You won't leave hungry, believe me. I don't know how she does it, but SweetMuse has mastered the fudgy brownie, and made a business out of it.
No really, order these now

POPJUDAICA
I found my Obamica Yamica here, and while it is now sold out (Dental Mista may have gotten the last one from me as an impulse gift!), there are plenty of other Jewish treats here.
Get stuff before it's gone

WELLALARM
WELLalarm not only has the most stylish charms on the market, but is a patent pending web-based service that offers easy secure, 24/7 access to your medical information from anywhere in the world—including your iPhone or Blackberry! For everyday convenience, keep your health information right at your fingertips in your secure WELLalarm account. Do you know people with allergies, diabetes, or other conditions? This is a great gift for them.
Look into WELLalarm Medical Alert ID charms and more

JALA DESIGNS
This is another designer who was at the Collective-E holiday party, only she came from Atlanta, GA! I'm not going to lie, I did treat myself to gold hoops with a fabric covered square dangling in the middle. Beautiful. So I got someone else a gift as well, someone who is very into fabric, and gave me the awareness I have of it.
Do look at these beautiful pieces

OPERATION NICE
And if you're more into budgeting then spending this season, but you still want to do something nice for someone or yourself, checkout Operation Nice, a wonderful project by a fellow blogger that has really caught on.
Read nice things and other happy thoughts

Happy shopping, to one and to all!

SALE and Free Shipping at Katie James!

2008-12-01T15:48:00.002-05:00

Happy Holidays everyone! Katie James is having free shipping today, Cyber Monday, and some other limited deals, so stick around and go shopping! Plus, the first 5 Mista readers get 15% their entire order! Enter MISTAHOLIDAY at checkout...

Go shopping!

Thanksgiving Potato Gun & Shotgun Style

2008-11-27T17:45:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving Potato Gun & Shotgun Style, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

This is how we role in Hellmuth Thanksgiving...Davids family, my
family, anyone family, all coming together to eat turkey and shoot
potatoes. This is Dad and David, loading up the potatoe gun. David's
family had the last minute errand of buying the potatoes, which are
usully regular potaoes, but they got sweet potatoes instead, which Dad
says may be an improved discovery. Inbetween potatoe gun loading, they
shoot skeet. The backdrop is of Amish country, which is where we have
a very old family farm with a vacation house in the way back. The
people who live here all the time grew some corn this year, which was
very exciting, since we haven't had corn here in maybe over a decade.
Soybeans took over. After dinner, David and I went on a walk with
Gerdy, who investigated the old pig pens, the milk processor thing,
the hay barn (which had a few too many disguised holes to fall
through), and finally the black bulls, who I didn't know were there,
but one was eyeing us...

Future headquarters for Collective-E - Ha!

2008-11-20T14:28:00.001-05:00

Future headquarters for Collective-E - Ha!, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

This is where we are having a strategy session for Collective-E! A
friend's apartment!

David preparing Shepherds Pie for Comfort Food Party

2008-11-15T18:05:00.001-05:00

David preparing Shepherds Pie for Comfort Food Party, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

The 5th Annual Comfort Party is here! All of the food ireparations are
out. This is David making a shepherds pie (who knew?) and that bowl of
cheese is for my 2cheese mac and cheese. This year I'm also making
some chocolate chip cookies with the new kitchienaid, what the heck.
More pictures to come as we make things and people bring dishes!

American Laser Centers: Request for Refund

2008-11-10T12:55:00.003-05:00

Hi those of you who are following the laser hair removal process. As you know, I've remained pretty positive about my results, and about the people in my office for American Laser Centers. Today was my 15th appointment. After my 10th appointment, when the manager got very defensive after I voiced concern over the lack of results (results being no hair any more, not just hair reduction in some places), I began to see no more results. She switched me to a "new" machine that went to 50. Unlike some of you out there, I don't know the name of it. I can't keep up with these "Amerilight Whatevers" I easily went to the setting of 40, which according to some technicians in the office, was not common and was high.

I didn't blog about my 13th or 14th appointments because they became boring. Although I enjoyed my time talking to the technician during the process, I went home hopeful that less would grow in. However, not much would change, and it was a downer until the next appointment.

I went to my 15th appointment this morning, which had to be rescheduled b/c my husband had to go to jury duty for my previous appointment and someone needed to be home to receive a package. I rescheduled it for some time later because it seemed that my regular technician wanted me on her watch. So I waited an additional 2 weeks to get onto her calendar. When I showed up this morning, I was with a brand new technician. Normally this would be fine - don't they all do the same thing - but this was a mix up and I wasted those 2 weeks. It is clear to me now that in my case, I am wasting time going to these appointments, and I have requested a refund. I will keep you posted.

See all reviews of my appointments from my American Laser Center experience >

Recessionista Breakdown: bought a purse

2008-11-08T19:42:00.003-05:00

Saturday days are always very dangerous times for me, if I'm trying to not spend money. Just keep me locked up, and the wallet far away in a oust in a corner, under jackets.

But today, like most Saturdays, I worked on computer designs, then forced myself to go to yoga in the afternoon. I bought 20 classes for $20 a year ago, and only now just realized that I'd used 2 of them, and they had expired. So this ecessionista begged for more time, and they extended it by two months. Which means I have to use them.

I went to a vinyasa, which kicked my hip flexers, and was about four thousand degrees, so afterwards, I was feeling pretty good. I did need a pedicure (ingrowns), and planned in my mind to get one. Gerdy needed food, so on the way walking to the pedi, I picked up some Merrick, followed by the stationery store for printer paper and pens (I live in NYC...you can't just drive to a Staples...I take what I can get within a 15 block radius), and next door to that, is a clothing store that had an amazing black jacket I was considering for the winter, but the store is always closed when I walk by, so I stopped in and tried on the jacket. Yup, it was amazing. Flingy and unique. But was $700. Darn. I wandered around the store, and happened upon a delightfully slouchy dark denim bag with the softest leather handles. It was $120. I bought it. Suze Orman would probally say: "Denied!" if I asked if I could afford that, but I snuck it onto my 0% APR Amex.

Ok, so it wasn't on my list of planned shopping (my everyday Habitual jeans have holes everywhere and are about to break in the thighs), but dammit, I'm happy about it. Satisfied, in fact.

Got My Obamica from PopJudaica!

2008-11-07T12:24:00.002-05:00

How fun! The Obamica Yarmulke at PopJudaica.com. I missed my chance at picking up a NYTimes or AMNY cover the day after the election, so here is my proof of Obama Nation!

Not Gonna Lie, This Republican Mista Voted Obama

2008-11-04T06:57:00.002-05:00

Here's why:

As a small business, I am taking a little leap of faith that Obama is not going to gently force me to pay certain things for the greater good. I enjoy paying people, working with others, and helping others reach their dreams and do what makes them happy every day.
I don't like the $250K cap, and even though I am currently under that cap, I long to be above that cap and beyond. So if there has to be a cap, I'm more comfortable with $5 million.
I think he's a more effective leader. I not only think it, but I see it, here and abroad. How we are viewed aboard is important to me.

The first time McCain ran, I forgot to vote for him in the primaries. I was in South Carolina, and in college, and plum didn't see the value in it. Big regret. So when McCain started running again, I was excited. However, my excitement has led to shock and awe, as I've watched his campaign unfold. He seems to have very little control, and does not like to take responsibility. This reasoning is based on interviews I have seen him in, not opinion pieces. The most recent example is when he alludes to his 5,000 "top advisers" during a Larry King interview, when asked his opinion on Palin going rogue. He insinuated that he had no control over what they said. I was on the fence for a long while, up until the day he postponed his campaign in order to save the economy. His flagrant disregard for the millions of dollars and effort spent in MS scared the daylights out of me. I felt that we have a president, and a body that is supposed to make decisions. Therefore, his need to be a public super hero did not impress me. Since then, he has seemed to make quick, irrational decisions. Therefore, I feel uncomffortable trusting him with my money and future business growth.

Home Office Lunch Recipe: Chopped Salad w/ Croissant and Swiss

2008-11-03T13:39:00.004-05:00

David and I went on a little lunch date to some fun french restaurant on Friday, and ordered soup, and split a cobb salad. This cobb salad was $14, so it's a good thing we split it. But, it put me over the edge to finally make my own salads! As easy as salads are, I never do them because of the time involved in prepping everything - chopping, wiping, eating. However, this cobb salad had everything nicely chopped and served in little sections on the plate. I figured I could chop some vegetables and put them in some Tupperware the night before. So here's a delish lunch recipe:

1 red pepper
1 red tomato
1 avacado
1 croissant
two slices swiss
sprinkle of pine nuts
sprinkle of blue cheese
dash of salt
1 package mixed green (I used Dole brand)
dressing: optional. I just squeeze a lemon onto the whole thing.

Time to make: 5 minutes
Time to prep: depends on your ingredients and how you grocery shop. I live above a grocery store, and order things online for delivery through Fresh Direct. ;) Actual cutting time of the vegis could be 20 min, which includes cleaning time.
Servings: 3 salads

PREPARING THE INGREDIENTS THE NIGHT BEFORE:
Chop the red pepper, tomato and avocado into little squares. Put them into a Tupperware container, or Glad square thing, but keep them in their own little groups. Have a package of pine nuts in your cupboard, and a hunk of blue cheese in your fridge, for continued re-use.

ON THE DAY OF YOUR LUNCH:
Slice the croissant in half. Place the swiss cheese on each half (if you are hungry, otherwise, eat one half). Place in the toaster or oven on low heat. You can easily over-toast the croissant.

Meanwhile, on a plate, take a fist-full of mixed greens. This container of mixed greens should last you for 3 salads. On top of that, sprinkle from your chopped vegetables. Don't use all of the vegetables. You will use these over 3 salads. Sprinkle on some blue cheese and pine nuts. Add a dash of salt. Dressing is up to you.

Take your croissant out of the oven and place it on your plate. Tell yourself you are out for a swanky lunch at Fast in French in Charleston, SC, and enjoy!

Tiger in the Hood

2008-10-31T23:02:00.001-05:00

Tiger in the Hood, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

We walked into the Haloween party at Plan B in Brooklyn, and David,
who named himself Argyle Man was instantly dubbed Tiger in the Hood by
fellow partiers.

Very New York

2008-10-31T22:48:00.001-05:00

Very New York, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Katie is...Goth Bride

2008-10-31T21:35:00.001-05:00

Katie is...Goth Bride, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

David...is...Argyle Man

2008-10-31T21:25:00.001-05:00

David...is...Argyle Man, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Or Jem with Pink Sequence Extensions...

2008-10-30T19:12:00.001-05:00

Or Jem with Pink Sequence Extensions..., originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Should I be Super Katie James for Halloween?

2008-10-30T18:27:00.003-05:00

I mean, I have a cape and all (pictured...the big purple thing taped to the ceiling), that I made years ago for a market table display. And I could wear some kick butt boots, and my bridesmaid skirt outfit, to be in total Katie James Couture. Otherwise, I'm a little tapped out in the brain, and don't want to spend the $60 at a costume store. What's a Recessionista to do?

Just call me a Crafty Recessionista : a Copperbrill Review

2008-10-26T14:51:00.007-05:00

How to live a lavish lifestyle during a recession: polish what you have!

This bowl in the picture is dark dark dark. Note the right side with the tarnish. The left side is shiny copper.

This copper bowl was handed down from Godmother Mista (but could have come from any garage sale) that I just polished in 10 minutes with the AMAZING Copperbrill from Amazon or William Sonoma. This bowl had not been polished in years, and the tarnish was serious. But I knew it could come back to shiny because tomato acid (I keep the vegetables in it) would remove spots of tarnish. When I polish the other side, I will have a gorgeous copper bowl that retails for over a hundred dollars. Hurray!

How to polish using the Copperbrill:
Run the copper bowl or pan under hot soapy water.

With a damp sponge (use the one that comes with the Copperbrill), rub a scoop of the Copperbrill onto the copper.

Rub in circles and watch the copper turn a lighter shade of copper. If it's like this bowl, it will require more rubbing and possibly a few runs of this process.

Rinse the Copperbrill off under hot water, and with a clean spunge wipe off the Copperbrill. Dry an polish with a clean cloth.

Voila!

You can buy Copperbrill from Amazon.

Here are more copper bowls at Williams Sonoma.

My Glitter Paint Pumpkins

2008-10-25T08:20:00.002-05:00

I got these pumpkins at the Union Square Market on Friday after meeting with Beth and Sabina for a Collective-E jam session meeting. The pumpkins were bare naked babes before I squirted glitter glue on them Friday night. So fun. Glittery Therapy.

Zen Home Cleaners: A review

2008-10-23T17:33:00.005-05:00

I bit the bullet, three years later, and hired the Zen Home Cleaners to clean my home, justification being that I work from home, and needed a treat. I learned about them on Daily Candy and have planned it ever since. The fact that they burn oils during the cleaning part put me over the edge, and maybe the sprig of lavender that they put on their website. Even though that sprig doesn't come with the cleaning, and even though I can burn oils when I clean on my own, I was still sold.

To sign up, I had to give my card over the phone and agree to a four hour minimum. No problem, as I've had someone clean once before, and this was the norm. For their "accounting purposes," I had to fill out a survey, that interestingly, is at SurveyMonkey. This covered things like "What should we NOT do?" "What do you want done?", legal things they are or aren't responsible for, and the chance that the cleaners could recommend that they stay longer. Being a website person, I love doing things online. So anything I can set up online, makes me happier. They pressed me to fill out the form, however, calling me, saying it needed to be done by 3pm the day before the cleaning. Well, I have a pretty long to-do list, hence the need for someone else to clean my home, so I forgot several times to fill out hte form. No matter, I did it with an hour to spare.

The first cleaning person arrived 10 minutes early, out of courtesy to me if I needed to leave, she didn't want me waiting. Her co-cleaner arrived shortly after, who I didn't realize was coming but was fine b/c it cut the real time spent cleaning in half.

We went over my priorities around the house, what I wanted cleaned. I stressed dust, and that anything should be dusted. And that we have pets, so attention paid to pet hair on furniture, etc. They lit the oil, asking my preference (we picked lemon grass or something), and they went to town while I went to the bedroom until they needed to clean that. They moved sofas, gross kitchen trash cans, etc etc to get the major dust bunnies. And they aren't actually dust bunnies, as they are more like dust bombs. I make a point to vacuum once a week, and do surfaces twice a month, so it's not like we live in a total slum, but there are Secret Dust Bunny Societies living happily behind sofas and desks, so it was best that they were sucked up.

Halfway through, the cleaners made a recommendation that they stay longer. Of our five rooms (kitchen, office, living room, bathroom, bedroom - not including front hall), they were in the kitchen and living room, and had taken everything apart to clean behind it. I agreed to the recommendation, and the office charged it to my card right away. A little while later, a cleaning consultant/inspector person came to see how the cleaners were doing. Everyone was very nice, and the inspector had some notes of where they could re-wipe the kitchen cabinets a little better.

Overall, I am very happy with Zen Home Cleaners. They were nice, professional, and cared about their work. My tub was amazing, and totally white and soak-worthy for a bath. They do not use bleach, so whatever they used, that was organic, worked. There are a few surfaces that I wish had been hit, like the wall behind my towel in the bathroom, or all window sills wiped of grime. But that's OK. This can be gotten next time, and I already started making a list of what we can do next. Because you can't spend all day on every detail! I am thankful that they hit every room in the house.

Pictured above is the organic chocolate and loose tea they leave on your bed. Yum.

Hotel Home Office : Justification to Hire a Cleaning Service

2008-10-23T16:54:00.004-05:00

As you may know, I got a cleaning service in my home last year, because we got the bedroom repainted (on the landlord's dime) because of the chronically leaking ceiling form the penthouse patio above. And crummy workers who just don't fix it. So I hired the cleaning service that time because the paint, primer, scraping, flaking old ceiling, etc. had gotten all over the house and made me quite sick with fever, so I hired a service and was blown away with how well they did.

That was a year ago. I constantly dream of having a cleaning service on a regular basis, but I do such a great job (ahem), why pay the money? But my great job takes an entire day. And as a Home Office Worker, if a client comes over, that is at least 2 hours of sucking up animal hair before they come, or it's on a Saturday for three hours, scrubbing the tub, the bathroom walls, the stove, and collapsing into a clean shower. And to be honest, I used to be able to take a bath in our apartment tub (because I could get it so clean), but lately, I'm not so sure. I doubt my own scrubbing.

So I had a cleaning service over today. Zen Home Cleaners (here is my review of their cleaning). I learned about them on Daily Candy three years ago. yes, that's how slow I am to make a commitment. And this isn't even a commitment. It was a "First time cleaning" to see if I maybe want them once a month. And you know what? I do. Here's why I'm not going to feel guilty about it:

I love working in good hotels. Why? Because it's clean! The bathroom is clean, the carpet is clean, the side tables are not cluttered and dusty. Everything is clean. And if it's not, I can call someone to freshen up. The air is clean. When I breath, I'm not breathing in must and dust.

It's no wonder we get distracted in our Home Offices, and sometimes you just can't maintain the dishes all of the time. But to stare at dust, or to reach down to plug in a computer cord that came unplugged, and to have to touch other dusty computer cords, which is then on your fingers when you start typing on your computer, is not inspiring. Or, to reach under the desk to turn on a little lamp I have under there that shines up through my glass topped desk, and it is covered with dust, and then I'm covered in dust, or at least I feel like I am, and then to work with clean fabric kept protected in my giant Ikea cabinet? I don't think so.

So like Cybil Shepherd in a Loreal commercial, I'm going to insist, and encourage all of us, to commit to the cleaners. Put the money away in a monthly budget, and treat it like a phone bill. Because we're worth it. And our ideas are worth it. And its our ideas that can possibly put food on the table and polish on our nails.

Cannot Wait for Collective-E Meeeting

2008-10-21T09:54:00.003-05:00

Because it's at a spa. A spa! How enjoyable will this be? Collective-E members are having our first Collective Social, where we will hear what everybody does, learn more about what everybody needs, and tap into the collective energy that women entrepreneurs produce when they are in a room together. And what better a room that at AmorePacific Spa, who is graciously letting us use the space for the meeting! Not only that, but Melissa of AmorePacific is packaging little skin care gifts as giveaways at our holiday party on December 2nd (you are totally invited, see details here), and may also supply a door prize give-away. Um...I think I will rig the drawing pool? ;)

I've been wanting to get a facial, a desire which has turned into a need, because David just announced, after staring at a new PMS zit on my forehead, that he's so glad I get zits, as it shows that I am still young. I think he can buy me a facial now, right? ;)

Throwing My Wedding Veil - Pre Bouquet

2008-10-17T19:46:00.003-05:00

My cousin just loaded this picture into her Facebook and tagged me, so I saw it! A truly organized blogger would add these ongoing wedding pictures in some kind of method, but I can't think of one, so here it is, random, in the middle of other posts. Hope you don't mind! But I liked the photo.

I wore my veil all night. I made it (took 10 minutes), and it was light as a feather, so it stayed on my head all night. For some reason, it struck me to throw it from my head not once, but twice. That's Godmother Mista in the red dress, ready to catch it in order to add it back to my things at the end of the night. I think I had more fun throwing that then the bouquet. ;)

Attack of the Oliver....

2008-10-13T20:50:00.001-05:00

Attack of the Oliver...., originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

Our new Beautysleep mattress from David at Macy's

2008-10-13T20:01:00.003-05:00

Everyone, this is David at Macy's. Not David the Groom, but David the Mattress Professional. I've been wanting a new mattress ever since David moved in, and I sold my Stearns and Foster Queen size mattress on Craig's list. I had a bed frame, but David had a full size sleigh bed, so la de da, we kept his mattress and lost mine! :(...

So now that we are married, I took us to Macy's for their holiday sale, and found all mattresses on sale. If you ask me, they are all prices that they should be, and no one should buy a mattress that is not on sale, but anyway.

David the Mattress Professional was so great. Encouraged us to listed to our bodies as we tested the mattresses. My David was actually quite involved, testing the firm side, then the plush side, and we were on the same page about what we liked! Yay.

Shown here is David the Mattress Professional demonstrating the wrapped coils inside of the Beautysleep mattress. This is the mattress from the bowling ball commercial, where the woman drops the bowling ball on the mattress, and the pins on the other side don't move.

PS: If you are going to go shopping for a mattress, and you go to Sleepy's or somewhere where they promise to beat other prices, don't even do the research. I did the research, and learned that the stores change the model of the mattress, so no one really offers the same thing. Just go with a store you trust.

Midnight cookie baking session with wedding presents

2008-10-08T00:44:00.001-05:00

Midnight cookie baking session with wedding presents, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

The Amazing Copperbrill : and it's so easy!

2008-10-05T10:17:00.003-05:00

Copperbrill copper polish goop is about the best thing I have come by in...maybe years. When building our wedding registry, I decided to go for the best. I mean, how many times do you get the chance to be given pots, and don't those pots last for years and years? I used my parent's wedding pots when I was growing up, so apparently these things last for life. So I went for the gold - copper.

Everyone pushed against this, all saying: "It gets so dirty!"

But I thought, if all of the cooking show people use copper, dog-gone-it, I'm going to use copper too. And it's really going to make me cook again. Living in New York puts one in a very bad habit, of sighing at the end of the day, hand to brow, saying: "I can't possibly take the time to cook anything tonight! Let's order chicken burritos!"

So I registered, and received copper pots and pans by the grace of wonderful wedding goddesses, and I could not be happier! There really is a difference in the way they cook! First of all, everything cooks faster!

But this post is about Copperbrill. I've tried polishing copper before, and it wasn't easy. My godmother gave me her old copper bowls that were so tarnished, and I tried polishing them, which was a smelly, labor intensive mess. Hardly any tarnish came off. Then I went to William and Sonoma and tried their Copperbrill copper polish that they raved about.

Wow.

With just a scoop of the goop, I spread it on the copper, rub it in until it's dry (20 seconds), run under hot water, and rinse with a William and Sonoma special yellow sponge that starts as a piece of cardboard (another amazing product). The picture above shows how I polished one side of the copper lid, in 1 minute. One minute! And it's not smelly, and it's soooo satisfying

I next polished a little copper sauce pan that had already discolored to a yellow brassy color. I rubbed the Copperbrill on it, and the beautiful copper color returned before my eyes. No joke.

I polished my godmother's copper bowls. Boom. Done. Clean.

If you have copper, get this Copperbrill. It is amazing.

Hello Kitty Alarm Clock Radio for Hip Kid

2008-10-04T15:50:00.002-05:00

How cute is this Hello Kitty Alarm Clock Radio? I needed a birthday present quick for the hippest 4 year old around (her name is Roxy...Foxy Roxy), so Gerdy and I stopped into Urban Outfitters, which is on the way to the park which is where the party was, and Urban Outfitters allows dogs in their store. There was also a Hello Kitty Toaster, and boy was it cute. It had all the settings - toast, defraud, other important things to do to toast - but I figured it was more fun for adults because what kid should be playing around with a toaster, really. When I arrived at the party, I was pretty sure that I had made the right decision. The spectical of the event was a pink Hello Kitty popup tent, that all the kids loved.

Here it is in Amazon, for cheaper! It's $30 at Urban, and $22 at Amazon. I'm seriously going to get it for myself. In this techno age, all I have is an ipod, and I want a radio to work and sometimes not be from my computer. For some reason, getting my hands on a radio has just not been happening.

Get the Hello Kitty Tea Cup Clock Radio today, if not for yourself, then for some small child.

My first Tweetup in NY

2008-09-28T10:12:00.002-05:00

Here is my first participation in a Tweetup (David calls it a Tweeter Party). @KatjaPresnal, formerly of Skimbaco.com and now of Lady Bug Landings and her social marketing consulting business, organized the shindig at Le Pain Quotidien at W. 58th and 7th Ave. Even though it rained, we had several out of towners! Including @ReelInvitations from CT (www.reelinvitations.com) and @PopJudaica from Brooklyn (www.popjudaica.com). @SavvyAuntie was there, and we talked about her site Savvy Auntie site for baby and toddler gifts, and how I purchased something from it that day. Newcomers for me were @BabiesGottaHavT who is a one woman show with her baby as they vlog about baby products, and @kaibigan7, a photo retoucher and in demand at the table.

So you can imagine the conversations! And then, @PopJudiaca pulled out bunches of her hot Schlep Totes (pictured)! And I actually had to use it on my way to my next outing!