Cissie

Last weekend was fashion week here. Technically, it's only three days long, rather than a legitimate week, but they pack a lot into those three days.

One of the PR companies I work with a lot in town actually reps Ted Baker London locally and one of the PR girls contacted me to ask if I wanted to wear something from the TBL winter collection to fashion week Saturday night. Umm ... yeah!

So I got to go to the store the day before and try on a number of really fun, really cute dresses, but in the end, I chose this one:

It's called "Cissie." I loved that it was bright red (my favorite color), and that it was kind of corseted and even had pockets. I paired it with some black patent pumps from Target and some sparkly jewelry, and I was good to go. The shows I got to see that night included Neiman Marcus, Tory Burch, Ted Baker London (of course) and Betsey Johnson. It was fun, and my boyfriend didn't even mind (too much) being dragged along and having to wear a suit.

And I would have had some video from the runway shows to post, but the mini video cam I ordered got delayed and wasn't delivered until two days later, on Monday. Ah well. Best laid plans, right? Hopefully I'll get video at something other interesting event so I can try out the cam.

The Rockin' Wedding

Last weekend was amazing/insane and the bride and the other bridesmaids and I had so much fun. Tell me, is there a better excuse than a wedding for women to pamper themselves? I can't think of one.

On Friday, we went to 20 Lounge Nail Bar and Boutique, because the bride had wanted us all to get manicures and pedicures together. The ladies at the nail bar brought us champagne and white wine, and the place was so clean and modern-looking ... it was a very chill, relaxing experience.

The bride picked my nail color for me, to match our dresses, which were a blush color (aka, pale pink), and our flowers. It was "We'll Always Have Paris" by O.P.I., a reddish purplish brownish shade way darker than anything I would have ever picked out for myself, but now that I've lived with it for a few days, I think I have to admit I'm coming over to the dark side.

And then after that, we grabbed a snack, went to the bride's house to change and beautify, then dashed off to the rehearsal, and then to the rehearsal dinner. And I would just like to point out that the bride and all the bridesmaids made it to the rehearsal exactly on time, but it was a pair of groomsmen who were 51 minutes late. My point is, men should not give women as hard of a time as they do about how long it takes us to get ready.

The rehearsal dinner was yummy Mexican food with a margarita fountain. Delicious.

The next day, my Saturday, began at 6 a.m., when my boyfriend and I woke up to get him out the door for rowing practice, and I started pulling all my materials together for the day. At 8:30, I was out the door, and at 9 a.m., I was pulling up to the W Scottsdale, where the bride had booked a suite for all us gals to get ready in before the big event.

In between snacking on apple slices, chocolate-covered strawberries, pretzels and a cheese and grapes plate, the bride's "people" did our hair and makeup, giving us each a different look. I ended up with a dramatic dark purple smoky eye and a hair style something like this:

The bride's instructions to our hair and makeup ladies were: "I want my bridesmaids to look like hot rockstars." So this was not your typical girl-next-door kind of makeup treatment. I think, looking at myself in the mirror, I wavered back and forth at first between being a little traumatized and also secretly loving it. I think I ended up secretly loving it, though.

By the way, this suite at the W was outrageous. OUTRAGEOUS. I'd post photos, but mine wouldn't do it justice. You can see better photos of the W and what their suite looked like here. Out of this world. We looked out over the pool and also across Scottsdale to Camelback Mountain. It was so much fun.

So from 9 to 2 p.m. (Yes.), we were getting our hair and makeup done. Then we headed to the venue, Villa Siena in Gilbert, which looked stunning that time of day. The temperature was in the low 70s, and the afternoon sun was perfect. We couldn't have asked for better weather conditions.

First, the bridal party took a lot of photos, men and women all separate from each other so that the bride and groom wouldn't accidentally get a glimpse of each other!

My dress:

And then we ladies had to scoot off to sequester ourselves in the bride's changing room while guests arrived. Also, our bouquets arrived. Red roses, black dahlias and another flower I didn't recognize. (Trivia: The bride has a huge tattoo of a black dahlia flower on her torso, so obviously, she loves those flowers.)

And then suddenly it was 4:30, it was time, and the rest of the afternoon and evening happened in a blur. I don't even remember what music the groomsmen walked down the aisle to, but the bridesmaids walked down to "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" by Iron & Wine, and then the bride walked down the aisle to "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. (Yeah, I thought that was an interesting choice, too.)

Then there were vows, tears, rings, a kiss and then a husband and a wife. And then a party!

Long, long day for the bridesmaids. Wonderful, wonderful day for the bride and groom. And now they are in the middle of their two-week stay in Paris, where I hope they are buying lots of pretty souvenirs and just enjoying time together.

Me, I'm still trying to recover from all the fun. :)

A Regatta. Then Beer.

A few months ago, my boyfriend took up rowing. He joined a club that practices very early in the mornings on Saturdays and Sundays and instantly loved it. After his first weekend, they moved him from the beginners to the intermediate class. The second weekend, they moved him from the intermediate class to the advanced class. And now here we are: This past weekend, on Saturday, he was in his first regatta.

He rowed alone (sculling) first, then in a four-man boat, then in a two-man boat. In his first race, he tipped the boat near the finish line and fell into the lake (his first fall ever) in freezing water. In his second race, his team didn't make it down to the start line in time and the regatta staff began the race without them. And in his third race, the wind picked up and was so strong that he and his rowing partner (both novices) soon lagged far behind the other racers.

Considering these results, a lot of people might chalk this first regatta up as a disaster. But I'm so proud of him for keeping his head held high and laughing it all off as no big deal. He's doing something he really likes and having a lot of fun at the same time. "I just really wanted to leave a lot of room for improvement," he says.

After the regatta, we meandered over to the Great Arizona Beer Festival, on the other side of the lake, where some drunk dude approached me and seemed to oddly be hitting on me by way of trying to claim I cut in front of him in line. My boyfriend calmed him down. We went on to have excellent barbecue and try a few brews, too. The weather was perfect -- sunny and 72. Overall, it was a very fun day spent outdoors.

Sunday, however, it started to rain here again. The weather experts say that Phoenix has already received more rain this year in these three and a half months than we usually do in an entire calendar year. Something to do with the El Nino effect. Regardless, I'm ready for the rain to stop. Each time the temperature climbs to 70, a rain comes along and drives the temperature back down to 50. And I don't like it. (I know, I know. The rest of the country is playing a small violin in my honor for this. Thanks.)

But what good does moving to the sunniest, hottest part of the country do for people who hate being cold if it's just going to rain and be cold all the time? BOO. Me no likey.

Anyway, that was my Saturday.

I leave you with this -- an awesome video you will want to watch from beginning to end, whether it's raining or shining where you are. Rock out, be enthralled, and enjoy.

The Perfect Hat Will Cover Her Face

My job just kicked my fanny.

I just worked from 9 a.m. Friday morning straight through to 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Think about that for a minute.

Anyway, once again, the magazines will be on racks come Monday, and people had better like them.

My mind is still abnormally fuzzy after so many sleep-deprived hours. For a long stretch of time yesterday I didn't even have the strength to do anything but sleep or click buttons on the TV remote.

This explains why I watched one hockey game, the NASCAR Richmond Sweep, and all of the Kentucky Derby, including pre- and post-show. While it was fun to see all the horses and horse enthusiasts who were excited to be at Churchhill Downs, it was terribly sad to see Access Hollywood's Nancy O'Dell interviewing all the "celebrities" -- who don't even have names outside the industry -- walk down the Kentucky Derby "red carpet." Who are these people? And how is society better for having been made to watch a video of Paris Hilton searching for the "perfect Kentucky Derby hat"?

It's Aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive

Hi. I'm still here. I've just been busy. And sick.

Last week most of my free time was eaten up by freelance assignments (not that I'm necessarily complaining!), which left little time for blogging.

As I mentioned in my previous post, one of these assignments involved me running around, trying to chat up security guards and Cricket Wireless Pavilion personnel in order to ascertain details on a certain celebrity's appearance in Phoenix last Thursday evening, none other than...

Miss Jessica Simpson.

You can tell that's her, right? Barely? Yeah, I didn't have a lot of time to snap high-quality photos, as I was scribbling down every word this woman spoke.

Highlights included... Let's see...

Well, she tripped and nearly fell while singing "You're My Sunday," but recovered herself.

Tony Romo was not there. (I can't believe lack of presence counts as a highlight, but I was still asked to report on it.)

And oh yes, before launching into "Remember That," Jessica said, "… In love, we all go through a lot of things, and a lot of things unfortunately make us stay there [in the relationship]. No matter what you go through in life, no matter what abuse you go through, take your heart and run so far away."

Looks like the latter is what was agreed upon to be most "newsworthy" in the Internet universe.

The original write-up based on my report is here.

A list of other sources -- including MTV, Yahoo, VH1, and E! Online -- that picked up the info and are also reporting on it can be found here.

Seeing it splattered all over the net, it's kind of bizarre for me to know that I was the one responsible for putting that quote out there. I mean, I know she said it, but this time I was the tiny cog in the celebrity PR machine that made the whole thing move forward.

Weird feeling.

Here's a snippet of video (poor quality) that I took while I was there:

If You Pay Close Attention You'll Notice I Have Avoided Doing Any Real, Actual Work

This month I'm writing two articles for our magazine, and each will appear in a different city's publication. The first is an eco-friendly beauty products piece for the "green" issue that we publish every April, and it's going in one of our California magazines.

So far I am loving this first assignment, because all I have to do is call up companies and ask them for free samples and press releases. Then I write up two or three short sentences describing the products' benefits and ta da!, I am done. So easy. Not to mention all the fun, free swag I'll receive by the end of the month. I may have to beg my editor to let me do one of these every month from now on ...

The second article is about the West of Western culinary festival which will be taking place here in Phoenix next month at the Phoenix Art Museum. Have not really started this one yet, but it's due like, yesterday, so pray for me. (In my defense, my editor assigned it to me late, so I won't feel guilty about taking some time with this one. I'm operating according to the concept of quality over speed this time around.)

Things I have done instead of writing the culinary festival article...

Well, I made this:






















Just the one for now. Maybe by Monday morning I'll have a bonafide pair.

The pattern is "Gifted" by Kate Gilbert and the yarn is some I had left over from the Man Scarf I made for my boyfriend. Again, I'm aware that this is further proof that I am in denial about living in the middle of the desert. Or maybe just proof of a personal conviction that I will not always live in the desert? Regardless, mittens are adorable -- particularly these -- and I do intend to make another!

Also, happy Valentine's Day! (If that's your thing. If it's not, you are going to want to visit this post on Lemondrop.com and click through to the foreign site. I certainly hope you're not having THAT kind of a day.)





















Photos by Sway Sovay

Scottsdale Fashion Week '08: Saturday Night

On Saturday I took one of my gal friends to the SFW Marciano fashion show at 3 p.m. She was dressed so cute (short black skirt, sapphire blouse and black flowers and feathers in her hair) that people kept asking her if she was one of the models.

Above: The tented runway during the Marciano show.

And then later, my boyfriend and I went back to the event to see the evening's closing show: Zang Toi, whose fashions are seriously statement-making. Sorry for the lack of photos. I didn't get to bring my camera to that one.

Above: Our media passes, aka Golden Tickets. It was fun to feel like a V.I.P. for one weekend. Now, back to the far-less-glamorous grindstone. This month I'm writing an article about a movie that was produced here in Phoenix. More on that later.

All Photos: Sway Sovay

Scottsdale Fashion Week '08: Friday Night

Last night I attended two SFW runway shows, including the Dillard's fashion show, which consisted of styles presented by Emmy Award-winner Rebecca Weinberg, former stylist for Sex and the City, and also, whom I interviewed for my article.

I wanted to share a few videos that I took ... and I also want to take this opportunity to admit that I now know I suck as a videographer. I apologize for the flaws in quality, etc. Nonetheless, maybe these will interest you.









Videos: Sway Sovay

Scottsdale Fashion Week '08 Kicks Off

SFW kicks off today and runs through the end of Saturday night.

Tonight is the Wearable ArtWalk, which I'm not sure I'll be able to make. But regardless, that's not what I'm most excited about. What I'm really looking forward to are the runway shows tomorrow and Saturday night.

The PR contact who provided me with an overwhelming amount of information for my article (which is in the issue that came out on Monday! I'm relieved, because it turned out so well!) was kind enough to offer me complimentary tickets to some of the shows on the main runway.

I've never been to a fashion show before, let alone a fashion week, so I'm pretty curious and therefore do plan on attending. I know they're expecting more than 30,000 people to show up, which means there's no doubt it's going to be a dazzling production.

I've heard a lot about this tented, climate-controlled runway (like the one in New York City) that they've added this year. There's going to be drinks and light shows and music and projections ... I will probably go into sensory-overload.

Oh geez ... what am I going to wear?

You would think I would have begun considering this long ago, but for some reason it didn't occur to me until now. What's the word for that? Irony?

Death Cab for Cutie in Concert at Mesa Amphitheatre

I can finally cross another item off my must-do-before-I-die list: see Death Cab for Cutie in concert. They peformed Thursday night at the amphitheatre in Mesa, and they sounded GREAT. Here's a video (not mine) of the concert's finale:

Jimmy Eat World

Somebody has tickets, and I think that somebody is me.

Scottsdale Culinary Festival

Yesterday I attended the Great Arizona Picnic, which is part of the Scottsdale Culinary Festival. It was delicious! I had sushi from the Tanked Fish sushi bar, an Italian chicken sandwich from Maggiano's, an Ahi slider from some chef association's booth, dessert from the Gelato Spot! I know, I know, that list makes me sound like a little bit of an oinker, but in my defense, they were all very small portions, promise.

There was also live music, a beer garden, grilling demonstrations, chef challenges, as well as the downtown area's fountains for the little kids to play in. The gardens were also gorgeous, as always.

Photos: Sway Sovay

Incubus in Concert at Mesa Amphitheatre

I went to a concert last night with a friend from work. The bands were: Simon Dawes, The Bravery, and Incubus. And I can't say I'm a huge fan of any of those, but I like The Bravery well enough.

It was kind of a last minute thing. My friend had gotten the tickets a while ago for her boyfriend and herself, but something came up and he couldn't go. So she asked her brother-in-law, who loves Incubus just as much as she does, but he also couldn't make it. So I turned out to be third in line.

I can't say I was excited about going when my friend asked me. But I can say I was excited just to be asked. It was great to get out for a night and do something for a change, because moving to a brand new city where you don't know a soul is tough, and staying in every evening gets really old really fast.

But enough about that. If you weren't there, here's what you missed: