Words of Wisdom

My Prayers Have Been Answered!

So I've been on the hunt for a good dealer.

Girl Scout Cookies that is...

Searching high and low for 9 year olds to slang me some Thin Mints! It seemed that everywhere I turned, someone was eating or ordering girl scout cookies! Friends, acquaintances, Facebook statuses! Even my boyfriend said "oh ya my boss' niece came into the office selling them the other day" to which I replied (screamed) "AND DID YOU ORDER SOME!!!!!?", "Oh. no. sorry babe.. I missed it, I was on a conference call". Ughhhh!!! (useless!!! anger face/disappointment/fatty).

I even heard a rumor that some girl scouts were going to be at the Whole Foods in the Pacific Palisades on Sunday... I was even willing to drive there to find out. Until...

I received a glorious email from my sister.

Subject: Alexis your prayers have been answered.

Email: fwd: Girls Scouts will be in the building lobby today from 2-4.

YESSS!!!!! Amazing! Finally!!! Now I have to meet up with my sis to get them. I know they'll be worth it!

Do you have a favorite Girl Scout cookie?

One Sunday Morning

Yesterday morning, I decided to wake up early and head out to our local farmer's market - such a delight!

A gorgeous Sunday morning walking through baskets of fruits and flowers and homemade honey and finding yummy produce. I am a vegetarian and all around huge veggie-fan, and while I am more a Miu Miu girl then the earthy-crunchy type, I am big on the environment and supporting local farmers.

I picked out all kinds of things: fresh flowers, golden raspberries, organic broccolli, and handmade soap to name a few.

The highlight of my farmer's market morning was the petting zoo at the very end of the street.

I DIIIIIIIIE!!! I LOVE ANIMALS (I am an animal fanatic, particularly of the baby animal variety as mentioned here, here, and here), so it was only natural for me to swoon and linger around the petting zoo for a casual 45 mintutes, taking pictures with my phone of other people's kids like a creeper. The petting zoo sign read "Children $3 (parents free)". I fit in NOWHERE! #sadface #confusion. Technically... by most standards... I am not a child, nor a parent. Ugh! And there was no one to hold my Balenciaga and groceries, otherwise, I would have probably gone in. The sole single woman in the petting zoo.. Just casually creepin'.

A few things were made clear that Sunday morning.. I am dragging my boyfriend with me next week to the farmer's market (who cares if it's Superbowl Sunday! There are baby animals that I must pet!!!!!).

And secondly, I need a baby goat (who knew?!) Like now. Cutest thing I've ever seen.

End of story.

Rolling In The Deep

{ADELE in Vogue March 2009}

Last night I fell asleep on the couch at around 10:30pm while watching 30Rock. I was in a pink-sauce-pasta induced food coma. Anyway, when I woke up at 1:30 to collect my boyfriend (playing video games in his man cave aka office) THIS SONG, video below, was playing on TV. I had heard it before, but wasn't sure who it was.

This morning, I woke up with a smile and a craving (like the kind after a great first date) with an inkling that the heavenly song was by Adele. Behold, I itunes'd it and I was correct.

THANK YOU ADELE.

The Tread-Meal

My boyfriend and sister have long marveled at my pronounciation of the word 'treadmill' which they claim I say as 'treadmeal'. I'm sure Freud could decipher that in his sleep. Well now, there's a whole new meaning to the Tread-Meal.

My new favorite thing:

working out while watching cooking shows (is that weird?!!)

My favorite ladies of the FoodNetwork: Giada de Laurentis, Paula Deen, respectively my numbers 1 and 2, and Ina Garten and Rachel Ray tie for 3rd place. Giada at Home and Every Day Italian are Giada's shows - she's the best. Her kitchen is clean and pretty and she's just my favorite (pictured below).

If you don't know who Paula Deen is, she's also the best. She's essentially the fairy godmother of butter - she's hilar. And I love her pudgy fingers with all her diamond rings.

Ladies, lemme tell you cooking shows is where it's at! With so much trash/gossip on TV, I find cooking shows very relaxing and pleasant to watch. And if you can break out a sweat in the process, hey I'm all about it!

{Paula Deen. So sassy.}

I'm Too Pretty For This

Meet Tiffany. She is a brilliant writer, has exceptional style, and gorgeous long hair (real).. and she's my friend. And she's gonna be the creative director of my budding fashion/art empire. Where were we? Oh ya! HER BLOG:

I'mTooPrettyForThis

Unlike my blog, which is mostly visual candy, I'mTooPrettyForThis is text candy. So take your sweet time. With weekly topics such as: #WhiteGirlWednesday, and #ModelMondays - what's not to like?! Check her out. It's brilliant.

{photos via Tif as follows: Ikea ad, Tiffany *please note her manicure and tan, and some Marc Jacobs skateboards}

City Country Cool

If I could describe my personal style, it would be:

Country girl meets sex kitten meets bohemia meets sometimes-you-feel-fat-and-have-to-wear-big-drapey-tops. (A whirlwind of ideas and concepts... I know).

This dream outfit, as pictured below, would fall into my 'country' style with just a pinch of 'classic' and 'city sopistication'.

Ricky Tartan sunglasses, Ralph Lauren $250 (available in red or green plaid)

Forever 21 Polka Dot Ruffle dress, $24.90

'Love Bird' 18 karat gold nameplate necklace, $285 at LoveBerman (I already have this :) hehe)

Gucci Vintage Web Medium canvas bag, $1,160 at Net-A-Porter

Scalloped lace undies with silver polka dots, Forever21 $3.80

Diane von Furstenburg 'Faye' open toe leather clogs, $280 at Net-A-Porter

And just for fun... a woven picnic basket!

And red gerbera daisies!

And lemonade!

(Okay, now I'm done, I promise.)

Oh How I've Missed You

Hi everyone!

I'm back!!! By now you may have given up all hope that I would return to Once Upon A Shine blog, since I haven't written in AGES!!! I know. I've been bad. Truth is I have been so busy this holiday season! Between the holiday trunk shows where I sell my hair accessories, painting and keeping up with art clients and appointments, and getting our new house in order - I've been a hot mess! But believe me, I've missed my Bloggy McBloggerstein.

Here is a highlight from the past few weeks (more highlights to come):

I've been making some killer art, and thus have been covered in oil paint most days (manicures are a distant memory and I stay away from our brand new white Pottery Barn sofa as I am afraid that I will unknowingly have paint on my butt and then sit down).

One evening I had just come inside from the studio to make dinner. My boyfriend would be coming home soon from work. I washed my hands and arms really well and went at it in the kitchen. I was making barbecue salmon and stuffed baked potatoes with broccoli and cheddar cheese. The kitchen smelled really good! He comes home and starts laughing almost immediately upon seeing me. 'What!!' I say, suddenly feeling insecure, wondering if he is making fun of my potatoes. He continues to laugh - snot almost coming out of his nose he is laughing so hard. I am standing over the stove checking on my dinner creation and frustrated now that he's laughing at me and teasing me. Finally he says 'Babe. You have paint ALL OVER your face'. Oh. I think. I go to the mirror and upon seeing myself I chuckle-smile-laugh. There is paint all over my face. And smeared in all over my face. And not a sexy color like red.. or a deep violet. It's BROWN. Poo brown. Smeared ALL OVER my face. In my eyebrows. On my chin and lip. Forehead. A big chunk on my cheek. If you didn't see my Lululemon leggings and David Yurman studs, you'd think I was homeless.

{David Yurman ads, just for fun}

So then, I had to chase him around the house with my face trying to give him a kiss/get the brown doody paint on him. Hee Hee. Long story short, I washed my face and we had din din.

Tricks Up Her Sleeve

I find myself "inventing" some peculiar, yet very useful tricks as mentioned here. And now, a few more...

Insta-Save-A-Bra

You know how after time your best bras get stretched out... well no need to toss your bra just yet! Take that stretched out bra and hold one cup in your hand, and twist the other cup around and around, twisting the center material and bringing the cups closer together. Tighten the straps, and voila like new!

Sometimes I do this if I just want some extra cleavage! But please note, this trick works best for deep-v style bras as shown.

Insta-Wrinkle-Smoother

Is the dress you wanna wear tonight all wrinkled? Here are two tricks that can help smooth out the situation.

One: Use your hair straightener in place of an iron (on low or medium heat) to clamp over and run through the wrinkled material.

Two: Run your shower very hot until steam collects in the shower, hang your dress in there (careful that it doesn't get wet) for about 5 minutes and ta-da! Smooth as can be!

Double Rainbow!!!

Here's the backstory on how I came to find this incredible video:

It's been gorgeous weather here in sunny California, and then out of nowhere (last week) there was a thunderous rain storm, in which a double rainbow appeared outside my window! Amazed and in awe I snapped some pics on my Blackberry and sent it to my family and BF.

Days later, I was at tea with a girlfriend and showing her something in my phone when the double rainbow pic resurfaced.. so I showed it to her, and it was she who asked if I saw the infamous double rainbow video. I hadn't seen it or even heard of it! Sometimes I'm reluctant to YouTube videos out of fear that the videos are too disgusting or offensive, which has happened in the past and then I have to watch a Disney movie or go through pages of CuteOverload in order 'de-thaw' myself from the traumatic imagery.

THIS VIDEO, however, is sucha-good-one! I was smiling the whole time while watching it!

Question is, how high was he?!

Hawaiian Oasis

It's been a week since I've last blogged! Feels like ages!

Truth is, my sister and I went on a girls only getaway to Hawaii. We were in Honolulu for four nights and five days and it was the most relaxing, rejuvenating vacation I've ever been on! Basically we laid out by the pool + beach, shopped, and ate. Joy, in so many forms.

I took a well needed break from my laptop and on day 3 my Blackberry broke! I was completely unplugged from technology.. a detox from my fast paced texting-while-doing-everything LA lifestyle.

We stayed at the Westin Moana Surfrider Hotel, one of the oldest hotels on Oahu, pictured below, which is absolutely stunning. Falling asleep while hearing the waves crash is so peaceful. I was in heaven..

VACATION HIGHLIGHTS

~ Orchid leis
~ Non-stop laughter with my sister
~ POG juice at sunset, which mind you is the most amazing taste (besides black truffle) in the WORLD!

~ Shopping in Waikiki Village. I bought this amazing puff sleeve silk dress from Juicy Couture, $248 here (I justified this purchase because the sales tax in Hawaii is like 4%. Oh how I saved!)

~ Ordering and watching two movies in our big white hotel beds: 'Valentine's Day' and 'The Kids Are Alright'. Both uh-may-zing.
~ Spa treatments in the ocean front spa. The spa lounge had fruits and teas and these adorable White Lion honey pearls, which are exactly what you think they are.. little pearls of shimmery honey. So fancy and delicious! ~

And now... BACK TO WORK!

Death By Pedicure Tub

Absolutely tragic.

The girl sitting next to me at the nail shop, uncrossed her legs while getting a pedicure and her Blackberry fell into the pedicure tub and sizzled to its death!

I was in the next chair over tryin' out Essie's new Little Brown Dress (this season's it color) and flipping through a magazine... it was as if I saw it all go down in slow motion! Legs uncross... phone slides down leg... kerplunk! Splash! Tears of agony. Terrible.

So I thought to share the anecdote as a forewarning to my fellow pedicure-texters... it's a jungle out there! Be careful!

Confessions Of A Concealaholic

Whoever thinks of this shit (and the OPI names) is f**king brilliant.

'Confessions of a Concealaholic' is a group I should probably belong to, considering my serious makeup problem. Well, it's not realllly a problem, but I do buy more makeup than I know what to do with, am constantly being honked at for doing my makeup behind the wheel (see here), and getting into all kinds of trouble at the movies (see here).

I love Benefit. They are simply the best at creating witty cosmetic packaging.

Check these out:

Confessions of a Concealaholic, concealer kit, $36 by Benefit.

Girl Meets Pearl, illuminating highlighter stick, $30 by Benefit.

Want them both. Now.

Home Sweet Hollywood Hills

Finding a new place to live might be one of the most stressful and challenging things to do! EVER!

My boyfriend and I are moving in together and have been looking at places for the past 3 months. From Westside Rentals to real estate brokers, we must have looked at 100 different places! Nothing 'fit'.

Then one day, we were clicking around on Craigslist and saw a listing for a gorgeous house for a price so affordable we thought it had to be too good to be true! We decided to drive by the house to make sure that the address was legitimate. As we pull up to the Spanish style house, I start to get the chills.. yup, this is our house.. It is beautiful! Maple trees, and buganvilias grow over archways, rustic white shutters, and Mediterranean red clay tiling. We are in love!

Like crazy people, my boyfriend is hoisting me up so I can look over a wall to see more. We nearly collapse into the bushes as passersby look at us with suspicion, so we decide to halt our CIA style investigation and call the phone number on the for lease sign to get more information. We find out that the Craigslist post was a scam, and that the asking price for this house is TEN times what we thought it was. Hearing our disappointment and feeling hopeless, the realtor on the phone assures us that he would help us find a great place within our price range.

And so the following weekend, we have several addresses and open houses to visit. We spend the whole morning driving around, scoping out possibilities. Towards the end of the day, we come to a house in the Hollywood Hills. It looks promising but we can't really tell, so we get out of the car to examine the exterior.

At this point, I really have to pee! Like REALLY BAD. We've been driving around town for hours and sipping on Venti iced coffees. My boyfriend has to pee too! We give each other devilish looks. It is very remote where we are. Lots of land and trees. No one around...

loud whisper: 'Should I pop a squat? I'm gonna pee my pants!'

bf: 'Yeah, good idea babe. You walk up there a ways, and I'll keep a look out, and then, I'll go.'

me: 'No, I'm scared. Just come pee with me.'

bf: 'Okay fine.'

me: 'But don't look at me!! Turn around!!!'

So here we are. In the nicest part of the Hollywood Hills... Peeing. Together. In broad daylight.

20 days later, that house is ours. We signed the paperwork and everything! You know how dogs mark their territory... well, I'm convinced that our peeing on this property was a good omen. After months of searching, stressing, and cottage cheese ceilings, we finally found our home. A gorgeous house in the hills complete with a sparkling city view.

Home sweet home indeed.

I'll Do The Fun Things First

"Procrastination is like a credit card.. It's a lot of fun until you get the bill"

- Christopher Parker

Color Me Crazy

So last Saturday, I gave my boyfriend two choices: see 'Eat Pray Love' or come with me to Color Me Mine to paint something.

He chose the latter. A great relationship is about compromise, and there are many times where I find myself playing Xbox and eating Papa John's pizza or 'watching sports' (aka being on my blackberry) anyyyway...

Put two creative perfectionists in a room together with ceramics.. oh boy! We were there for six hours!!! Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration but we were there for at least four.

I wanted to make a popcorn bowl, since popcorn is a major food group in my diet, and the bf decided to make a cigar ashtray, who came prepared and brought a Cohiba cigar wrapper with him for inspiration. Such a pro. Suddenly I had wished I brought some inspiration or pattern with me! He is always the "responsible" one (sighh).

I painted my bowl light blue and yellow with pink and red strawberries on the outside and painted popcorn on the inside. Everyone (bf + Color Me Mine staff) was confused and told me that popcorn kernels and strawberries didn't go together, but I refused to conform.

Spending the day at Color Me Mine was good old fashion fun and I highly recommend it, especially if you find yourself in a routine or are constantly asking yourself, "what should I do today?". Go paint! Mugs, mermaids, piggy banks.. the choices are endless.

I just picked up our masterpieces today! I am hoping that my popcorn/strawberry bowl will be worth millions one day...

Movie Night With Milo & Otis

I am one of the few people who still go to the video store. Because of a certain $78 Blockbuster bill, my boyfriend and I no longer rent movies, but rather buy them. And sometimes you can find really great deals like 3 DVDs for $30!

As we're making our way through the isles my boyfriend is reminiscing on classic movies (I nod in silent agreement as I have seen hardly any classic movies, which is quite embarrassing, but my definition of a classic is more along the lines of 'Clueless' and 'Legally Blonde'), anyhow, he picks his few boring "boy picks". I choose 'There's Something About Mary', 'Enchanted', and 'Milo and Otis'.

Last time we had movie night my boyfriend made me watch 'Dances With Wolves' which he said was a classic. Actually, this was our third attempt to watch 'Dances With Wolves', as I fell asleep 20 minutes into the movie time1 and time2. I'm sorry but that movie was really dusty and boring, not a cute pair of shoes in sight!

So tonight is my pick, and we are going to watch 'The Adventure of Milo and Otis', a favorite from my childhood. It's a tale of a pug and an orange tabby cat who live on a farm and go off on an adventure. And they have English accents which makes it even cuter!!! I seriously thought this movie should have won an Oscar and I was extremely passionate about it in Blockbuster, ranting and raving about how great of a film it is. However as we started watching, things weren't exactly how I remembered them... It was really cute and silly, but more... "elementary" than I remembered and literally was 2 hours of a talking pug and cat done by the same voiceover guy. No CGI, this was before 'Babe'. The movie came out in 1989. I kept looking over nervously to make sure that the bf was enjoying my movie pick.

I made popcorn obviously - it's my favorite food to shove my face with. I am hunting for yellows, as we all know the white ones just aren't as delicious, and about halfway through the movie my boyfriend says, "Let me get this straight. You have NEVER seen 'The Godfather' but you've seen THIS movie FIVE times?!!!". He looks at me and laughs shaking his head in disbelief (and adoration).

I give him a concerned look... "Do you want to watch 'Enchanted' instead?"

Candy For Breakfast

My boyfriend's parents are in town (they are the cutest little nuggets by the way). They are visiting from Boston and they always come bearing gifts. This time they brought me a Juicy Couture perfume, stationary, a coffee table book on happiness, socks (they were on sale she explained LOL! gotta love Jewish moms), and last but not least...

A box of Cape Cod Salt Water Taffy!!!

A big box. Forget about the perfume! When she handed me the box of taffies, it was as if there were money signs in my eyes. A warm glazed expression and feeling came over me.

Which color first? An orange one with a yellow center, then a blue, then a pink + red swirl, then a white one, then a green key lime taffy, and finally a brown one to... "balance it out". Happy girl.

Food For Thought

If only I loved exercise as much as I love food (heavy pie sigh), which I know is the opposite of Kate Moss' philosophy, "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".

Uh, let's start with Pizza Cookery garlic cheesy rolls (which I packed in tonight) and end with warm cherry pie with vanilla bean ice cream.

A Lesson Learned

If you know me, you know that I apply makeup nine hundred times a day. Makeup is my favorite subject in school. Me + Makeup is the backdrop to this story...

It was one of me and my boyfriend's first dates.. maybe our 4th or 5th date and we went out to the movies. We saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall, opening night (which I just googled out of curiosity. It was April 18th, 2008) at the Arclight in Hollywood.

It was nearing the end of the movie when I reached to get my makeup bag out of my purse. I had to freshen my lipstick, so that when the movie finished and the lights go on, Poof! I am magically beautiful and my lips are pink and glossy (and yes my lips are this naturally shiny and beautiful all the time)!!

So in the dark, I take out and apply what I think is my Trish McEvoy lip pencil. Sneak it back in my purse. Pheww. No one saw. I'm magically beautiful again. The movie ends. Credit role. Lights.

A nervous look and laughter: "What the fuck Lex!", he says. My lips are smeared with black. I put black eyeliner on my lips.

I try rubbing it off with my hand which only makes it worse and now my entire mouth area is grey. My boyfriend is laughing uncontrollably. I am mortified. Not only do I look dirty, but my cover is blown as I later explain that I was putting makeup on in the movie. Deep heavy sigh.

I can't believe we actually ended up together!

Note to self: ALL OF THE ABOVE