06 December 2010

Eat. Pray. Lulu.




Well, I've recently uncovered a new obsession.  No, it's not Zumba or WikiLeaks.  It's better.  Lululemon Athletica ie the makers of the yoga pants that make your "butt look good".  Yah, I know, I've sold my soul to the vanity Gods, trend Gods, and those love-to-hate energetic pep-in-their-step long-n-lean Gods.  Sorry, guys, I'm hooked.

For some time, I've walked past the Lululemon store and seen packs of women all tucked and snug in their yoga booty bottoms, pony tails swaying, carrying those luscious, pop-art re-usable bags filled with all types of goodies.  I swore to myself that I wouldn't surrender to their spandex sorority...until I found myself wandering into the store just to settle my curiousity.

I give the employees of this store major credit.  No one wants to work in a place where they have to tell women that they "may want to go up a size".  Critiquing women in spandex is about as gruesome as the jobs that garbagemen, telemarketers, and sewage plant operators face.  However, I began to appreciate their honesty and altruistic plight to make sure I had the right pair of bottoms that I was surely convinced  would help me stop world hunger single-handedly.

Well, 12 pairs of pants piled on the floor and almost two hours later, I had to force myself to leave unless I wanted to start looking for a part-time job to pay for a major incurring debt on my credit card. I cheerily received my bag with two pairs of wonder pants kindly folded inside and bounced my way out of the store, a click in my heels and a fling of my pony-tail. "Dear God," I thought, "What is in these pants??!" Well, it's not a sin, rather their signature Luon (tm) fabric, designed with all the tush technology to make you justify the pricetag.  They felt amazing and above all, I felt like I was walking on the Stairway to Health Heaven.  It wasn't just about the way they made me look, but the way they made me feel.  Is that enough cheese for you out there? I hope so, because there isn't much more where that came from.

Lululemon is a company that markets a lifestyle based on positivity, health, and overall well-being in a non-exhaustive, savvy way. People like them because of what they represent, the goodness that they bring and the positivity that they promote.  Sounds just like your favorite frozen-yogurt establishment, huh? Well, that's another healthy obsession of mine- and my backside thanks both of them.

Put the birth control to bed



This is what happens when I reintroduce myself to television.  9 by Design on Bravo follows the design team Cortney and Robert Novogratz and their company Sixx Design. Sprinkled with 7 children, they are the hipster VonTrapp Family, with design being their melody. If a photo of Johnny Cash replacing a baby [insert your favorite, fuzzy farm animal here] in the nursery isn't hipster enough, well, I don't know what is....

05 October 2010

The Grand Legrand

Last weekend I had the pleasure of having my life frosted with a sweet and dreamy trip to La-La land, more commonly referred to as Los Angeles.  The stars were blazing like rebel diamonds cut out from the Hollywood Walk of Fame (thanks, Brandon) and during the day the sun blazed, too. No, seriously, on Sunday it hit a record 113 degrees.  

More importanly, the weekend ended with the reason why it even began in the first place: Vampire Weekend playing at the Hollywood Bowl, with the pro-makeout band Beach House opening. Victoria Legrand takes care of vocals in a beautiful set of melodies and musical arrangement that has kept me listening to their latest album Teen Dream on repeat for quite some time now.  Although I always gave credit to her voice as being the bullet train headed straight for one's heart, that night her performance convinced me that it is Ms. Legrand herself acting as the force.  She'll haunt you, hypnotize you...and have you convinced it's a good idea to air-dry your curly/frizzy hair and wear shaggy bangs that hide your eyes to the outside world. Even if you work under fluorescent lighting.

Vampire Weekend gave a lovely performance to the largest crowd they had apparently ever played to.  I usually don't like to go to stadium shows but for this lineup I made an exception and turned my musical nose downwards. If you don't know much about the band, here's a little bio:

Ezra Koenig (vocals, guitar): - perpetuator of girls fantasies to marry diplomats, intentionally un-self aware, godhead to female groupies of child bearing age (that ranges from age 11-37 depending on where you live and what's in the water), pupil stimulator, "smart and cute and smart and cute...and  omg he's so smart and so cute!", keeps Cupid in business by saying things like "I like this song. It's really fragrant."

Rostam Batmanglij (keyboards, vocals): our favorite un-Iranian-American under the age of 26 who is ok with wearing a rainbow, rocks his Baba Joon's sweater in the summer heat, makes use of the proverbial Persian "classical piano training" we were all subjected to and is actually making music rather than entertaining relatives he doesn't really like that much

Chris.... (drums): somewhat cute and entertaining enough to make you think twice about dismissing the New Jersey fist pump

Chris....(bass): I don't care about him. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't care about me.


The night was magical and in the words of Ms. Legrand herself, "Hollywood is magic."

She may think it's magic, but I sure think it's grand.



06 August 2010

I Want cAndy
















"If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There's nothing behind it."  - AW


If there ever was a day to celebrate the sweetness of superficiality, it would be today.   So, don't feel bad if you shed a tear watching the final episode of the Hills (we all know it's about the cinematography, anyway...) or intently watched the Kardashian of your choice making tuna salad.  A little candy won't hurt you.  Trust me, I'm a dentist. 

Celebrating plasticity, fame and facades, and all things proverbial made new. A very happy birthday to you, Andy. 

That's all, really.